NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. (“Pershing Square”) today announced the successful completion of the PSVII funds, which were created as finite-life co-investment vehicles (with a January 31, 2025 end date) to hold shares of Universal Music Group N.V. (“UMG”) in connection with Pershing Square’s initial purchase of shares from Vivendi in September 2021.
The PSVII funds have elected to distribute UMG stock to their limited partners rather than cash because we believe that UMG stock is substantially undervalued at its current share price, and the tax-free stock distribution enables our limited partners to continue to own UMG shares. In the distribution, approximately 47 million shares representing 2.6% of UMG will be distributed by the PSVII funds to non-Pershing Square affiliated investors.
Pershing Square’s continuing investment of approximately 140 million UMG shares, representing 7.6% of the company, is owned by our core funds – Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd., Pershing Square, L.P. and Pershing Square International, Ltd. – and Bill Ackman, his affiliates, and other Pershing Square employees.
Pershing Square continues to believe that UMG will remain an attractive long-term investment. Pershing Square, Bill Ackman, and their affiliates are not selling any shares in connection with the distribution. UMG remains the largest holding of the Pershing Square funds.
The Pershing Square core funds, alongside the PSVII funds, acquired a 10% stake in UMG directly from Vivendi in a negotiated transaction in the summer of 2021. Our investment in UMG was acquired at a price of €18.28 per share including capitalized costs. The PSVII funds have received dividends of €1.66 per share since inception. At UMG’s closing price of €24.72 on December 31, 2024, UMG has achieved a total return of 46%1 including dividends, over the approximately three-and-one-quarter-year life of the investment. This return compares favorably to the S&P 500’s 37% return and the Amsterdam Exchange Index’s return of 21% over the same period.
About Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P.
Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P., based in New York City, is an SEC-registered investment advisor to investment funds.
1 UMG’s total return is provided for illustrative purposes only and is not an indication of actual returns of the Pershing Square funds and is calculated from our average cost at inception. For a variety of potential reasons, such as timing of purchases and sales, use of derivative instruments, and others, each Pershing Square fund’s return on its investment may differ substantially from UMG’s change in share price. The PSVII funds’ net value increased by 52% on a Euro basis and 33%, if converted into U.S. Dollars on December 31, 2024. The net value reflects the deduction of, among other expenses, management fees, brokerage commissions, administrative fees, and crystallized performance allocations, if any. The PSVII funds’ net return includes the reinvestment of dividends, interest, and capital gains from its UMG holdings.