Universal Music Group submits draft registration statement for public offering in U.S. 

Music giant Universal Music Group has submitted a draft registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed public offering, as per an announcement made on Monday by the company. 

If approved, UMG will make its debut in U.S. stock markets, a region where it has a significant presence, representing famous music artists such as Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Sabrina Carpenter. 

Universal Music Group already publicly trades in the Netherlands under the ticker UMG and at the time of reporting was trading at 27.59 euros per share, up by 1.92%.

Source: Google Finance

UMG’s potential listing was spurred by an agreement signed with Pershing Square, the company’s largest shareholder, in which it had registration rights that allowed it to push UMG to file for public trading.

The registration rights were exercised and announced by the music company in Jan 2025. 

Hedge fund manager and Pershing Square founder Bill Ackman posted about the agreement on X.

“We exercised our right to cause UMG to list in the U.S. because we believe it will substantially increase demand for (and the valuation of) UMG shares from investors who by mandate are limited to investing in securities listed on U.S. exchanges, and likely attract additional analyst coverage for the company.  We also believe the U.S. listing will greatly improve trading liquidity for the shares,” stated Bill Ackman in the X post. 

UMG has not yet disclosed the potential size of the offering or the proposed share price, details which are yet to be worked out as investor demand for the company is assessed.