MADRID, 19 (EUROPA PRESS)
Pershing Square Tontine Holdings (PSTH), the special purpose acquisition firm (SPAC) led by well-known investor Bill Ackman, has canceled its plans to acquire 10% of Universal Music Group for 3.5 billion euros, as announced by this Monday in a statement.
The company’s decision is due to the fact that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has raised a series of questions about the structure of the operation. Specifically, the financial regulator has questioned whether the proposed transaction complied with the regulations of the New York Stock Exchange.
The SPAC has assured that it has been negotiating with the SEC to try to “change its position” in relation to the problems encountered. However, given that the company considered that it could not complete the operation, it has decided to cancel it.
“Although we are disappointed by this result, we continue to believe that PSTH’s unique scale and favorable structure will allow us to find a transaction that meets our standards for business quality, lasting growth and fair pricing,” said Bill Ackman.
Universal Music Group will be listed on Euronext Amsterdam from September. Although the SPAC will not be able to finalize the transaction, Ackman has assured that Pershing Square, the parent of the SPAC and manager of investment funds, will comply with the agreement and will become a “long-term investor” of Universal Music Group.
The Chinese technology giant Tencent, in a consortium with other financial investors, acquired 10% of UMG for 3,000 million euros in mid-December, thus reaching a 20% stake after acquiring an equivalent percentage in March 2020.
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