PARIS (Reuters) – Vivendi said on Friday a Tencent-led consortium would exercise its option to buy an additional 10% stake in Universal Music Group (UMG), home to Taylor Swift and The Beatles, based on a deal giving UMG an enterprise value of 30 billion euros.
The French conglomerate, in which billionaire Vincent Bollore’s holding company has the biggest stake, said it was “pursuing its plan to sell additional minority interests in UMG with the assistance of several mandated banks” and that a listing was planned at the latest in 2022.
In March 2020, the Tencent-led consortium closed the initial purchase of a 10% stake in UMG, with the option to acquire an additional 10% on the same valuation basis until Jan. 15, 2021.
Vivendi said it planned to use proceeds from these transactions to reduce its financial debt and to finance share buybacks and acquisitions.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; editing by David Evans)
