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Vivendi shareholders approve plan for spinning off Universal Music
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 23 June 2021
Shareholders in Universal Music owner Vivendi yesterday approved the plan for spinning off the group’s music business as a standalone publicly listed company. Under that plan, 60% of the shares in the new Universal Music Group will be distributed to Vivendi’s shareholders.
The approval came at Vivendi’s Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting. Following that meeting, the company confirmed that “shareholders overwhelmingly approved the distribution of 60% of Universal Music Group shares with a record level of 99.9% positive votes, demonstrating their full support for the recommended strategic approach and the options chosen by the management board to implement this transaction”.
Vivendi will retain 10% of the shares in the standalone Universal Music company, with another 20% controlled by the Tencent-led consortium that originally bought into the music firm at the end of 2019. The final 10% is currently being acquired by US-based investment vehicle Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd.
The new Universal Music Group company will be listed on the Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam, with Vivendi confirming yesterday that the listing “could take place on 21 Sep 2021”.
This story is discussed on this episode of our Setlist podcast