Cyrille Bolloré, Chairman and CEO of the Bolloré Group, UMG‘s largest single shareholder, has encouraged Universal Music Group‘s management to reject Bill Ackman‘s $64 billion takeover proposal.
Speaking at the Bolloré Group‘s annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday (May 27), Bolloré took aim at the bid’s valuation, its funding structure, and also questioned Ackman’s management style.
“I encourage the management of Universal Music to reject it,” Bolloré said, as quoted by Reuters.
“As far as I am concerned, it is as if it has been rejected.”
“We think the price is not there at all,” Bolloré told shareholders.
“He is not making an offer with his own money,” Bolloré added. “It is our money, the company’s money.”
Elsewhere at the meeting, Bolloré acknowledged that Ackman “was a very smart investor” and that he had raised “interesting” points on topics including cash allocation and the opportunities presented by AI tech.
However, Bolloré encouraged UMG’s management to reject the proposal, describing the next five to six years as critical for the company to capitalize on superfan subscriptions, live music, geographic expansion, and merchandising.
Bolloré described UMG as one of the best assets the group has ever held, citing its resilience during economic downturns and its growth potential, adding that while the family may sell a small portion of its stake one day, it was “too early” to do so. “The development potential is still very big,” he said. “I’m sure things are going to be managed very well.”
The Bolloré Group controls 28% of UMG via both a direct stake in the music company, plus its holding in Vivendi.
Ackman himself has acknowledged the centrality of Bolloré‘s backing.
“Without Bolloré, we don’t have a transaction,” Ackman told investors when he unveiled the bid in April.
At that time, Ackman said his first call before launching the proposal had been to the Bolloré Group, and described the initial response as “music to my ears.”
Pershing Square‘s non-binding proposal, submitted to UMG’s board in April, values the company at approximately €55.8 billion ($64.4 billion), or €30.40 per share – a 78% premium to UMG‘s closing price on April 2.
Under the terms, shareholders would receive €9.4 billion in cash and 0.77 shares of new stock for each UMG share held.
The plan also included merging UMG into a new entity listed on the New York Stock Exchange, which Ackman argued would unlock demand from institutional investors unable to purchase non-US-listed securities and improve analyst coverage.
UMG had put its own plans for a US secondary listing on hold in March 2026, citing turbulent market conditions.
Cyrille Bolloré stepped down from UMG‘s board in July 2025 to focus on his role at the Bolloré Group.
Ackman‘s Pershing Square first acquired approximately 10% of UMG from Vivendi in the summer of 2021. Ackman has since sold down a portion of that position — raising around USD $1.4 billion from the sale of a 2.7% stake in March 2025 — and resigned from UMG‘s board in May 2025, citing “new executive and board obligations arising from his recent investments.”
UMG generated revenues of €2.9 billion ($3.39 billion) in Q1 2026, up 8.1% YoY at constant currency.
Alongside those results, UMG announced it would sell half of its equity stake in Spotify, generating around $1.4 billion to help fund an expanded share buyback program totaling €1 billion ($1.17 billion).
Ackman‘s proposal had envisaged liquidating UMG‘s entire Spotify stake – valued at approximately €2.7 billion ($3.1 billion) – to help fund the cash consideration of the bid.Music Business Worldwide