Christian P. Pewitt Blogs: Vivendi's Universal Music Group Valued At $40 Billion, says CEO, As IPO Speculation Mounts

Monday, November 20, 2017

Vivendi's Universal Music Group Valued At $40 Billion, says CEO, As IPO Speculation Mounts

Universal Music Group (UMG) is valued at $40 billion or more, Arnaud de Puyfontaine the CEO of parent corporation Vivendi said on Friday, sending shares in the French media group higher. after a mixed Q3 report that highlighted growth at the music group.

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Asked about the value of its Universal Music Group division at the Morgan Stanley European Technology, Media and Telecoms conference in Barcelona, Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine said that he had seen an estimate this week that valued UMG at $40 billion.

“I wouldn’t put a number, but I think that number is higher than the highest one that is currently expressed by the markets,” said the chief executive who went on to say that he agreed with the $40 million assessment.

Spotify Could Lead The Way To A UMG IPO

Vivendi has repeated dangled the idea of a separate IPO for it music group.

Earlier this year, Vivendi General Counsel Frederic Crepin had said that some banks were proposing a listing for UMG at up to $23.5 billion USD. An analyst at independent firm Arete Research, currently values the world's largest music conglomerate at $21 billion, according to Reuters.

Much of UMG's success comes from the short to music streaming. So if market leader Spotify is successful with its expected IPO next year, expect increased investor pressure for a UMG IPO to follow.