Koers Universal, record label behind Rihanna, through the roof in Amsterdam
The French Vivendi owned 70 percent of the shares of Universal Music Group (UMG). It keeps 10 percent of that, the 60 percent brings it to the stock exchange. This is done by giving the shareholders of Vivendi shares in UMG. They can then sell the shares.
If they really sell today, then the day has started well for them. The price of UMG is 38 percent higher than the reference price quoted by Euronext Amsterdam. UMG is now worth approximately 45 billion euros. This is necessary with ING.
‘Worth more’
UMG is going public because of Vivendi’s collective pressure to do so. They think UMG is worth more on its own as part of Vivendi.
In addition to Vivendi, the Chinese Tencent (20 percent) and the American Bill Ackman (10 percent) own UMG.
Justin Bieber and Bob Marley
In addition to Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, UMG also signed Justin Bieber, Gregory Porter, Ariana Grande, Bon Jovi, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd and Lana del Rey.
The company also owns the rights to the songs of Bob Marley, Amy Winehouse, ABBA, Queen and Marvin Gaye, among others.
Philips and PolyGram
The roots of UMG partly lie in the Netherlands, namely with the record company that Philips had once met with labels such as Decca and Phonogram.
Later that company became PolyGram and it had a separate stock exchange listing in Amsterdam for a decade. Gram was later acquired and eventually became part of UMG.
Good for Amsterdam stock exchange
The fact that UMG opted for an IPO in Amsterdam is another boost for the Amsterdam stock exchange. It is the 14th IPO this year. Like other exchanges in Europe, Euronext Amsterdam is benefiting from Brexit. As a result, the stock market in London has become less attractive to investors.
Earlier this year, stock trading in the Netherlands exceeded that in London for the first time. Later London won Amsterdam again, but in August Amsterdam was bigger again.