UMG Looking At 2022 IPO

• Vivendi, the parent company of Universal Music Group confirmed longstanding rumors that it plans to take UMG public in 2022. That little nugget was buried inside Vivendi’s lengthy 3rd quarter earnings report, which was released yesterday and revealed that revenues were up 5.1% for the first nine months of 2020 and up 3.0% for the third quarter of 2020, driven by the company’s music streaming platforms.

As Variety and other sources reported earlier this year, a consortium, lead by Chinese media company Tencent, purchased a ten percent stake in UMG for about $3.3 billion, with an option to pick up an additional ten percent by January 2021.

The IPO news subtly appeared near the end of this section of the earnings report, which stated, “This transaction is complemented by a separate agreement allowing Tencent Music Entertainment to acquire a minority stake in the capital of the UMG subsidiary owning its Greater China operations. Following the success of this significant strategic transaction, Vivendi is pursuing its plan to sell additional minority interests in UMG with the assistance of several mandated banks. An IPO is planned for 2022. The cash generated by these transactions may be used by Vivendi to reduce its financial debt and to finance a significant share buyback program and acquisitions.”