{"id":254765,"date":"2026-04-07T20:40:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=254765"},"modified":"2026-04-07T20:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:49:10","slug":"bill-ackman-confident-hell-win-over-umg-shareholders-to-64-billion-bid-says-bollore-response-was-music-to-my-ears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/bill-ackman-confident-hell-win-over-umg-shareholders-to-64-billion-bid-says-bollore-response-was-music-to-my-ears\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Ackman confident he’ll win over UMG shareholders to $64 billion bid, says Bollor\u00e9 response was ‘music to my ears’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bill Ackman<\/strong> told investors on Tuesday (April 7) that he expects “overwhelming shareholder support” for Pershing Square<\/strong>‘s $64 billion<\/strong> takeover proposal for Universal Music Group<\/strong> \u2014 revealing that his first call before launching the bid was to UMG<\/strong>‘s largest single shareholder, and that he and proposed board chairman Michael Ovitz<\/strong> dined with UMG<\/strong> Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge<\/strong> weeks before submitting the offer.<\/p>\n

Speaking on an investor call following the announcement of a non-binding bid to acquire all outstanding shares of UMG<\/a>, Ackman<\/strong> was candid about what it will take to close the deal \u2014 and how far along he believes the groundwork already is.<\/p>\n

The transaction requires the support of UMG<\/strong>‘s board and a two-thirds vote of shareholders who attend a meeting called for the purpose.<\/p>\n

“Without Bollor\u00e9<\/strong>, we don’t have a transaction.”<\/p>\n

Bill Ackman<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ackman<\/strong> said his priority was the Bollor\u00e9 Group<\/strong>, the company’s largest single shareholder, which controls 28%<\/strong> of UMG<\/strong> via both a direct stake in the music company, plus its holding in Vivendi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“Without Bollor\u00e9<\/strong>, we don’t have a transaction,” Ackman<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n

“So my first phone call yesterday was to [Bollor\u00e9<\/strong>] to just share with them a high-level summary of the transaction. And I guess the words I got back were, ‘these are music to my ears.'”<\/p>\n

Ackman<\/strong> added that “the devil’s in the details” but described Bollor\u00e9<\/strong> as “intrigued.”<\/p>\n

(Ackman noted that the conversation had been brief and that Pershing Square<\/strong> had deliberately not shared material non-public information with Bollor\u00e9<\/strong> ahead of the public announcement.)<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div> <\/div> \n

The transaction would generate approximately \u20ac2.7 billion<\/strong> in incremental cash for the Bollor\u00e9 Group<\/strong>, Ackman<\/strong> said, while allowing the French firm to retain its stake in UMG<\/strong> \u2014 addressing what he characterized as market anxiety about whether Bollor\u00e9<\/strong> intended to sell its position.<\/p>\n

On Grainge<\/strong>, Ackman<\/strong> acknowledged: “We need board approval from Universal Music<\/strong>. We need the support, ultimately, I think, of Lucian<\/strong> [and] the management team.”<\/p>\n

“We need the support, ultimately, I think, of Lucian<\/strong> and the UMG management team.”<\/p>\n

Bill Ackman<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He said that he and Ovitz<\/strong> \u2014 whom Pershing Square<\/strong> has proposed as Chairman of UMG<\/strong>‘s board of directors<\/a> \u2014 had presented “the idea of this potential transaction without really getting into details about a specific proposal” at a dinner a couple of weeks ago.<\/p>\n

“Lucian<\/strong> encouraged us to send it in and [said] it’s something the company’s going to take a hard look at,” Ackman<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n

<\/div> <\/div> \n
Why Ackman believes the deal ‘checks the box’ for all stakeholders<\/h6>\n

Asked by Michael Morris<\/strong> of Guggenheim<\/strong> about the path to approval given the concentration of UMG<\/strong>‘s shareholder base, Ackman<\/strong> once again expressed confidence.<\/p>\n

“I don’t see a reason why all the shareholders won’t support this transaction,” he said, adding that the proposal “addresses really everyone’s concerns” and was “almost frictionless.”<\/p>\n

Ackman<\/strong> said the deal would benefit UMG<\/strong> employees holding stock options that are “massively out of the money” due to the current depressed share price. He added that artists would receive approximately \u20ac750 million<\/strong> from the sale of UMG<\/strong>‘s \u20ac2.7 billion Spotify<\/strong> stake.<\/p>\n

Ackman<\/strong> said that he did not expect opposition from Tencent<\/strong> \u2014 whose consortium holds approximately 20%<\/strong> of UMG<\/strong> \u2014 or “any of the other [major share] holders.”<\/p>\n

Ackman<\/strong> was emphatic throughout the call that the proposal would not change how UMG<\/strong> is run.<\/p>\n

“I don’t see a reason why all the shareholders won’t support this transaction.”<\/p>\n

Bill Ackman<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He praised Grainge<\/strong> and the Universal<\/strong> management team for having “done an excellent job” and said there would be “no change to the way the business operates.”<\/p>\n

Pershing Square<\/strong> CIO Ryan Israel<\/strong> echoed the point when asked about UMG<\/strong>‘s revenue outlook: “We are very optimistic and excited [by] the success the company has had historically.”<\/p>\n

Questioned by Christophe Cherblanc<\/strong> of Bernstein<\/strong>, Ackman<\/strong> praised UMG<\/strong>‘s M&A discipline, saying the management team had been “incredibly disciplined and thoughtful about which are the important enduring artists where it would be an enhancement to the company’s catalog for an acquisition to make sense.”<\/p>\n

That said, Ackman<\/strong> disclosed that one of the conditions of the transaction would be a simplified “reset” of Sir Lucian Grainge<\/strong>‘s employment contract.<\/p>\n

“My view is his contract is much too complicated,” Ackman<\/strong> said. “There’s an opportunity to restructure it in a way that makes sense.”<\/p>\n

Ackman<\/strong> acknowledged that Grainge<\/strong>‘s contract likely contains a change-of-control provision, but said he did not believe there were any other significant employee-related change-of-control clauses that would be triggered by the deal.<\/p>\n

<\/div> <\/div> \n
Governance, investor relations, and the financial case<\/h6>\n

The proposed new board would include Michael Ovitz<\/strong> as Chairman, two representatives from Pershing Square<\/strong>, and additional members from UMG<\/strong>‘s current board.<\/p>\n

Ackman<\/strong> described Ovitz<\/strong>, who co-founded Creative Artists Agency<\/strong> in 1975<\/strong>, as “considered by many to be the greatest agent of all time,” citing a 40<\/strong>-year relationship with Grainge<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Also present on the call was Jill Chapman<\/strong>, who Ackman<\/strong> said had recently joined Pershing Square<\/strong> from Hilton<\/strong>, where she was head of investor relations for over a decade and was apparently “the number one ranked investor relations person in the S&P 500” during that period.<\/p>\n

Ackman<\/strong> positioned Chapman<\/strong> as central to the plan to overhaul UMG<\/strong>‘s investor communications \u2014 one of six factors Pershing Square<\/strong> has cited as depressing the stock \u2014 saying the company needed “a very proactive approach” to engaging with shareholders and analysts.<\/p>\n

Ackman<\/strong> said UMG<\/strong> “has never graduated from being operated like a private company” in how it communicates with investors, and that the absence of per-share metrics in the company’s guidance was currently “a significant concern for the shareholder base.”<\/p>\n

Pershing<\/strong> said it expects UMG<\/strong> to deliver\u00a0earnings-per-share growth of\u00a015%<\/strong>\u00a0to\u00a019%<\/strong>\u00a0annually under the new plan, driven by high-single-digit revenue growth, margin expansion, and the cancellation of\u00a017%<\/strong> of its\u00a0<\/span>shares outstanding.<\/p>\n

“Hilton<\/strong> is a royalty on people staying in hotels. Much the same way that Universal<\/strong>‘s a royalty on people listening to music.”<\/p>\n

Bill Ackman<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ackman<\/strong> said the company “can be a high teens earnings grower over the next foreseeable future, decade-plus.”<\/p>\n

Ackman<\/strong> repeatedly compared UMG<\/strong>‘s potential to that of Hilton Worldwide<\/strong>, which Pershing Square<\/strong> held for over seven years before exiting the position earlier this year.<\/p>\n

He noted that Hilton<\/strong>‘s stock traded at approximately 18<\/strong> times earnings when Pershing<\/strong> first invested, and now trades at 33<\/strong> times \u2014 “in the middle of a war” \u2014 crediting the transformation to transparent investor communications and disciplined capital allocation.<\/p>\n

“Hilton<\/strong> is a royalty on people staying in hotels,” Ackman<\/strong> said. “Much the same way that Universal<\/strong>‘s a royalty on people listening to music.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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