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Wed, 08 Apr 2026

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 Music giant Universal gets $64bn takeover offer

The music giant behind acts such as Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter gets an offer from Bill Ackman's Pershing Square.
Universal Music Group, which represents artists such as Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar, has received a $64.3 billion takeover offer from US investment company Pershing Square. The proposed merger would list the new company on the American stock exchange. Pershing Square's billionaire CEO Bill Ackman praised Universal's management for their excellent job in nurturing top talent and generating strong business performance. However, he stated that the company's stock price had "languished" due to unrelated issues. Universal has expressed full confidence in its current leadership and strategy, but will assess the implications of Pershing Square's proposal on shareholders, employees, artists, songwriters, and other stakeholders. The proposed takeover comes at a time when the music industry is facing challenges such as slow growth in streaming market revenue, concerns over royalty payments to platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, and a rise in deepfakes created by AI. Pershing Square's offer has sparked a 30% surge in Universal's share price, with analysts warning that the company must constantly spend money to stay competitive in the cut-throat music industry.