Pershing Square Bids $10.85B to Buy Universal Music Group

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman aims to revive UMG's lagging stock price with a 29% premium offer.

Apr. 7, 2026 at 6:50pm

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A minimalist, photorealistic studio still-life featuring a stack of vinyl records, a pair of studio headphones, and a sleek music mixing console, symbolizing the financial and operational aspects of the proposed acquisition of Universal Music Group.Pershing Square's bid to acquire Universal Music Group aims to revive the company's lagging stock price and implement strategic changes.NYC Today

Pershing Square, the hedge fund led by billionaire investor Bill Ackman, has made a non-binding offer to acquire Universal Music Group (UMG) for 9.4 billion euros ($10.85 billion) in cash. The offer represents a nearly 29% premium over UMG's April 2 closing stock price and would value the company at over $60 billion by the end of 2026. Ackman believes the deal can succeed even without the support of all major UMG shareholders, including the Bolloré Group which controls around 28% of the company.

Why it matters

Pershing's bid aims to revive UMG's lagging stock price, which has declined 39% from its peak and 23% lower than its first day of trading over four years ago. Ackman sees an opportunity to restructure the company, including renegotiating CEO Lucian Grainge's contract, and potentially re-list UMG on the New York Stock Exchange.

The details

Pershing's offer of 5.05 euros per share ($5.82) would require the support of two-thirds of shareholders who attend a shareholder meeting to succeed. Ackman said he expects to get the support of major shareholders like Tencent, and believes the deal can still succeed even without all big investors on board. The proposal also requires approval from UMG's board. Pershing executives dismissed concerns about threats from AI-generated content, and instead pointed to opportunities to use AI to make UMG's business more efficient and its catalog more valuable.

  • On April 7, 2026, Pershing Square announced a non-binding offer to acquire Universal Music Group.
  • In July 2025, the chairman and head of Bolloré Group, Cyrille Bolloré, resigned from his seat on UMG's board.

The players

Pershing Square

A hedge fund led by billionaire investor Bill Ackman that has made a non-binding offer to acquire Universal Music Group.

Universal Music Group (UMG)

The world's largest music company, which has seen its stock price decline in recent years.

Bill Ackman

The billionaire investor and founder of Pershing Square who is leading the effort to acquire UMG.

Lucian Grainge

The chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, whose contract Pershing aims to renegotiate as part of the deal.

Bolloré Group

A major shareholder in Universal Music Group, controlling around 28% of the company.

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What they’re saying

“The words I got back were, 'These [words] are music to my ears.'”

— Bill Ackman, Founder, Pershing Square

“Effectively what's happening here is, we are using a merger to effectuate significant corporate change of the company, changes in the balance sheet of the company, changes in the board of directors of the company, changes in the dividend policy and a re-listing of the company or listing of the company on the New York Stock Exchange.”

— Bill Ackman, Founder, Pershing Square

“My view is, his contract is much too complicated, and there's an opportunity to restructure [it] in a way that makes sense.”

— Bill Ackman, Founder, Pershing Square

What’s next

Pershing Square will need to gain the support of two-thirds of shareholders who attend a shareholder meeting for its proposed offer to succeed. No shareholder meeting has yet been called.

The takeaway

Pershing Square's bid to acquire Universal Music Group represents an effort to revive the company's lagging stock price and implement significant changes, including renegotiating the CEO's contract and potentially re-listing the company on the New York Stock Exchange. The success of the deal will depend on garnering support from major shareholders like the Bolloré Group.