Shareholders of French media company Vivendi have voted in favour of spinning off Universal Music Group.
The deal would see Universal Music (NYSE:UVV), the world’s largest music label, complete its listing on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange in late September.
The spinoff comes after billionaire investor William Ackman’s Pershing Square Tontine Holdings signed a deal to buy 10% of Universal Music for $4 billion U.S. The deal gave Universal Music an enterprise value of $41.55 billion U.S. for 100% of its share capital.
A consortium led by Chinese technology company Tencent Holdings already owns a 20% equity stake in the group. Universal Music accounts for three quarters of Vivendi’s profits.
Shareholders also voted in favor Vivendi’s plan to buy back and cancel up to 50% of its stock.
