At the close of last year, MBW broke the news that Universal Music Group had inked definitive documents to sell 10% of its company to a consortium led by Tencent Holdings Ltd for $3.3bn – a stockholding that could this year rise to 20%.
We also told you that UMG parent Vivendi remained open to other interested parties buying further stakes in its music company.
Today (February 13), we got an update from Paris-based Vivendi – and it’s very big news.
According to a just-issued press released from Vivendi, its Supervisory Board has been “informed of ongoing negotiations regarding the possible sale of additional minority interests [on top of Tencent’s], which negotiation engagement, based on a minimum valuation of €30 billion, was announced on December 31, 2019.”
“Eight banks have been mandated by Vivendi to assist it in this matter. An initial public offering is currently planned for early 2023 at the latest.”
And then the headline revelation: “Eight banks have been mandated by Vivendi to assist it in this matter. An initial public offering is currently planned for early 2023 at the latest.”
Did you catch it?
It appears that Vivendi plans to spin out a portion of Universal Music Group on the stock market within the next three years. (it appears likely that this portion of the company will be separate from the 10%-20% of UMG owned by the Tencent consortium, to be clear.)
That news follows last week’s headline that Warner Music Group intends to enter an IPO, with Access Industries maintaining majority voting shares in the company.
See below from Vivendi’s Q4 2019 presentation for further confirmation.
Universal Music Group, led by CEO and Chairman Sir Lucian Grainge (pictured), turned over $8.04bn (€7.16bn) last year across recorded music, publishing and other activities.
This number was up by 18.9% year-on-year, or 14.0% at constant currency.Music Business Worldwide
