Universal Music Group has officially filed for a secondary stock listing in the U.S. Photo Credit: Osamu Nakazawa
Universal Music Group (UMG) has officially moved forward with plans to launch a secondary listing in the States – albeit while continuing to trade on the Euronext Amsterdam.
The major label confirmed as much in a formal release, explaining in more words that it’d submitted a related draft registration statement to the SEC. Additionally, UMG in the concise announcement indicated that “certain shareholders” would put up the interest behind the listing.
Consequently, Universal Music also spelled out that it won’t “receive any proceeds from the sale of ordinary shares.” Not directly mentioned in the to-the-point disclosure is UMG stakeholder Pershing Square’s right to launch a U.S. listing.
Technically, that contractually guaranteed secondary-listing option isn’t new – though quite a lot has changed since Pershing Square bought a big chunk of the major in 2021. First, 2024 saw Pershing Square Capital Management head Bill Ackman push Universal Music to shift its corporate headquarters and main listing to the U.S.
As we reported then, UMG brass bristled at the suggestion – and, in the end, stayed put in Amsterdam. Fast forward to the current year, when Pershing Square trimmed nearly 50 million shares from its Universal Music position; Ackman then departed the major’s board in May, citing “increasing demands on his time.”
On this front, Ackman is, in fact, working to develop Howard Hughes Holdings into “a diversified holding company.” Nevertheless, one needn’t stretch the imagination to see how the above-described occurrences may have created a bit of professional strain.
In any event, strain or not, the U.S. IPO wheels are still in motion. As things stand, pricing, the exact number of involved shares, and other particulars aren’t set in stone; the offering also “remains subject to the completion of the SEC review process as well as market and other conditions,” UMG pointed out.
However, we aren’t without insight as to when the shares may hit the market. Back in January, Universal Music noted that Pershing had “waived the 120-day filing requirement.” The major, in keeping with its contractual obligations, said it would “use commercially reasonable efforts to launch an underwritten offering for the sale of certain shares owned by Pershing by September 15, 2025.”
In light of today’s news, then, UMG appears poised to begin trading in the States sooner rather than later. More immediately, Universal Music shares, hovering around $32 apiece, were up 2.2% on the London Stock Exchange at the time of writing.
That represents a solid boost from 2025’s beginning and an even larger jump from late-July 2024, when streaming-plateau concerns were front of mind.
Content shared from www.digitalmusicnews.com.