Fresh off of rejecting a takeover proposal from capital fund Pershing Square, Universal Music has announced it is repurchasing a sizable portion of its stock back from the company founded and operated by billionaire investor Bill Ackman.
The world’s largest record company will repurchase over 14.2 million shares from Pershing, worth about $290.5 million (€250 million), as part of the fund’s complete unwinding of its position in Universal Music. Pershing has 80.6 million shares to unload, per Bloomberg. Universal Music’s stock is down 3.25% today.
Universal Music did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Variety on any plans to acquire more of Pershing’s stake in the company beyond the share buyback announcement.
The news sets up the conclusion of a relatively longstanding financial relationship, which culminated in Universal’s rejection of a proposition from Pershing that arrived early last month.
In April, Ackman’s company made an out-of-the-blue announcement that it had submitted a takeover proposal to Universal Music’s board of directors “designed to deliver significant benefits to UMG stakeholders.”
