Bill Ackman to acquire Universal Music for $65 billion—will Taylor Swift’s owner change and bring it back to the New York listing?

Renowned investor Bill Ackman has recently made a major proposal—through his firm, Pershing Square Holdings—to acquire global music powerhouse Universal Music Group (UMG) for roughly €56 billion (about $65 billion). Universal Music Group holds a valuable catalog of rights for cross-generational superstars such as Taylor Swift (Taylor Alison Swift) and the Beatles. According to the “New UMG” report blueprint he released, the plan aims to move UMG’s public listing location from Amsterdam to New York by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). In the past, Ackman already had deep investment ties to Universal Music Group; this time, he is also attempting to use capital restructuring to completely address the group’s long-standing “European discount” dilemma.

Bill Ackman Has Been Mindful of UMG Since 2021

Ackman’s connection with UMG dates back to 2021, when he tried to obtain a 10% stake in the company through a SPAC he had founded, but the effort ultimately shifted to one of his hedge funds due to regulatory restrictions. UMG’s ability to continue attracting vast amounts of capital largely comes from its rich catalog of rights for cross-generational superstars such as Taylor Swift, Drake, and the Beatles. These intangible assets build an extremely deep industrial moat, and—boosted by streaming media and artificial intelligence technologies—they have demonstrated strong resilience against inflation and a strong capacity for monetization. Steady long-term cash flows are the core financial foundation on which Ackman evaluates and launches this massive acquisition.

New UMG Blueprint and Valuation Recovery

According to the core arguments in the “New UMG” report, UMG’s current stock performance has become notably detached from its strong fundamentals, mainly due to the “European discount” effect brought by its Amsterdam listing. The report proposes that by restructuring the capital structure and moving the main listing to the New York Stock Exchange, it can effectively attract long-term U.S. capital focused on the technology and content industries. Ackman’s strategic goal is to break out of the traditional entertainment industry’s valuation framework and reposition UMG as a “core tech media stock” with high earnings-multiple potential, so that it can compete with major U.S. tech giants within the same ecosystem.

UMG’s Cross-Border Equity Structure and Potential M&A Obstacles

Although the strategic blueprint is financially compelling, UMG’s complex cross-border equity structure will be the biggest test for this deal. The company’s key major shareholders currently include French media tycoon Vincent Bollore and China’s tech giant Tencent; any major decision to change the listing location or capital structure would require consensus from these key camps. In practice, pushing such an aggressive “de-Europeanization” transformation is very likely to spark power struggles over control of cross-border operations. In addition, the cross-border M&A and plans for a going-private restructuring will also face stringent scrutiny by regulators in Europe and the U.S. regarding antitrust and tax regulations, adding a high degree of uncertainty to the transaction.

Divergent Capital Market Reactions and Risk Pricing

With respect to this M&A and restructuring blueprint, the capital market’s initial reaction shows investors’ caution and divergence. After the news was disclosed, UMG’s stock price jumped sharply by 24% at the open, reflecting the market’s short-term expectations for an acquisition premium; however, its cumulative performance this year is still down by more than 20%, indicating that long-term concerns have not been fully eliminated. At the same time, Pershing Square—the entity whose vehicle is driving the deal—saw its stock price fall slightly, while companies controlled by major shareholder Bollore rose. Such inconsistent performance highlights that institutional investors are rationally repricing and assessing risk based on the execution difficulty of high-complexity M&A and global macroeconomic variables.

This article, Bill Ackman to acquire UMG for $65 billion—will Taylor Swift’s boss change and will UMG relist in New York? first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.