Universal Music shares jump 35% in Euronext Amsterdam debut

The surge reportedly happened within the first minutes of trading, before the share price settled at €24.97 two hours later. This puts the major music rights holder’s value at more than €45bn, and makes it the largest listing in Europe this year. 

UMG accounts for roughly three-quarters of its parent company Vivendi’s profits. After years of speculation, Universal execs announced plans to go ahead with the listing, postponing the official date several times before settling on the rollout in late September.

The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets formally approved UMG’s stock for trading last week. Vivendi says it pursued the listing to boost its own valuation, suggesting the group was being undervalued by investors. 

No new shares were created in the share sale. Ahead of the listing, 60% of UMG was transferred to every shareholder of Vivendi, rather than the company itself, with majority shareholder Vincent Bolloré now claiming a €5.9bn stake of the music company. Vivendi and billionaire William Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square control a 10% stake each, while a Tencent-led consortium owns the remaining 20% of UMG. 

UMG is the world’s biggest music company and owns a host of businesses spanning more than 60 countries. It is behind platinum-selling artists like Lady Gaga,Taylor Swift and Kanye West. The company recently invested hundreds of millions of dollars in talent and rights, most notably about $300 million in the acquisition of Bob Dylan’s catalogue.

Meanwhile, Vivendi is expected to pay out a special dividend and an interim dividend to its shareholders this week.