UMG Valued At $39 Billion

• Just ahead of its highly anticipated Tuesday IPO in Amsterdam, Universal Music Group has been valued at around 33.5 billion euros ($39.30 billion), as reported by Reuters.

France’s Vivendi is spinning off Universal, and on Monday set a reference price for the listing at 18.5 euros (around $21.70) per share, according to a statement issued by Euronext. UMG’s listing will be Europe’s largest this year and will hand 60% of shares to Vivendi shareholders.

Universal is betting that a boom in streaming led by Spotify that has fueled royalty revenue and profit growth for several years still has a long way to run, in a music industry it dominates along with Warner and Sony Music.

Several high-profile investors have also already snapped up large Universal stakes, banking in part on the group’s back catalogue, which includes the likes of Bob Dylan and The Beatles. As was recently reported, billionaire William Ackman acquired a 10% stake of UMG via his Pershing Square hedge fund, while China’s Tencent owns another 20% of Universal. However, as Reuters wonders aloud, “the listing raises questions about Vivendi’s strategy once it parts ways with its cash cow, in which it will retain only a 10% stake.”