Overview
- Pershing Square placed about 80–80.6 million UMG shares in an overnight sale, effectively exiting a roughly 4.5% holding that Pershing had built from 2021 and later trimmed.
- Universal Music repurchased 14,156,285 of those shares for €17.66 each, paying about €250 million from an extra repurchase authority granted in May.
- UMG’s board had unanimously rejected Pershing’s unsolicited €55.75 billion cash-and-stock takeover proposal on May 29, saying the offer materially undervalued the company, and the Bolloré family publicly urged the board to decline the bid.
- The sale triggered a sharp market reaction with UMG shares falling about 7–8% in early European trading on Thursday as the market absorbed the large block and the prospect of activist-driven change faded.
- The exit removes Pershing’s public push for a U.S. listing and monetization of UMG’s Spotify stake, reinforces Bolloré’s controlling influence over strategy, and leaves analysts focused on how buybacks and balance-sheet moves will affect investor returns.