Vivendi : Universal Music IPO shares surge as Lucian Grainge spies £105m payday
September 21, 2021 at 07:21 am EDT
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Universal Music, which landed on the Amsterdam stock exchange today, had shares surge by more than a third in its first few minutes.
The well-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) could secure the world’s largest music label group a valuation close to $46bn.
Shares were initially listed for €18.50 each but have since jumped to around €25.70 on the Euronext.
The float will see it split from French media giant Vivendi, handing over 70 per cent of its shares to Vivendi shareholders as it eyes alternative acquisitions.
Chairman of the group Sir Lucian Grainge is expected to receive an over £105m cash bonus from the share surge, The Times reported.
Universal Music, the group behind Lady Gaga and the Rolling Stones, had recently dished out some $300m for Bob Dylan’s music catalogue, as it bolsters its streaming offering as the second largest music publisher in the world.
The Amsterdam listing, sponsored by BNP Paribas, comes amid rising competition from music giants offering streaming services alone.
Universal, which also represents Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber, has emerged a steady ship in the digital revolution that has swept up the music industry.
From online streaming revenues to the rebirth of vinyl records and CDs, the music giant has managed to grow its sales for six years straight – posting €7.43bn in sales last year, alongside a €1.49bn revenue.
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Vivendi SE consists of several leading companies in the content production, communication and media:
- Groupe Canal +: a leading operator in pay television in France, Benelux, Poland, Central Europe, Africa and Asia;
- Lagardère: publishing, media and travel retail group;
- Studiocanal: Europe's leading player in the production, acquisition, distribution and international sales of films and TV series;
- Havas: a world-leading communications group organized into three operating units that cover all businesses in the sector (creativity, media expertise and health/well-being);
- Prisma Media: market leader in French magazine publishing, online video and daily digital audience;
- Editis (discontinued operation): second French publishing group and leader in several fields including general literature, youth, practice, illustrated, comics, education and reference;
- Gameloft: a world leader in mobile video games;
- Vivendi Village: it is comprised of the international ticketing company See Tickets, the promoter and festival owner Olympia Production (France), the festival owner U Live (the United Kingdom), the Paris-based concert halls Olympia and the Théâtre de l'Oeuvre, the cinema and entertainment venues CanalOlympia (Africa), and the IP development agency and consultancy The Copyrights Group (IP development agency and consultancy);
- Dailymotion: one of the world's largest platforms for aggregation and distribution of video content (more than 350 million unique users per month);
- Group Vivendi Africa (GVA): a FTTH (Fiber to the home) operator active in Sub-Saharan Africa.