A consortium led by Chinese tech giant Tencent is buying a 10% stake in Vivendi’s Universal Music Group for 3 billion euros (R47 billion), the companies announcedΒ Tuesday.
The sale values the world’s largest music company at 30 billion euros (R470 billion).
The Tencent-led consortium is joined by Tencent Music Entertainment and certain global financial investors.
The consortium has the option to acquire up to an additional 10% equity stake in UMG at the same enterprise value by January 15, 2021.
Prior to the closing of the Consortium-Universal Music Group transaction, Tencent Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group also intend to enter into a second agreement that grants Tencent Music Entertainment an option to acquire a minority equity stake in Universal Music Group’s Greater ChinaΒ business.
This transaction will be subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of the first half of 2020.
“Vivendi is very happy with the arrival of Tencent and its co-investors,” Vivendi said in a statement.
“They will enable Universal Music Group to further develop in the Asian market.”
Tencent and the consortium members are excited to support Universal Music Group ‘s growth through this investment, the Chinese conglomerate said in a statement.
“Together with Vivendi, Tencent and Tencent Music Entertainment will work to broaden the opportunities for artists and to enrich experiences for music fans, further promoting a thriving music and entertainment industry.”
Naspers owns 75% of Prosus, which houses Tencent and other ecommerce assets.
Prosus came to market in September 2019 through the listing of the international internet assets of Naspers, a global consumer internet group and remains 74.06% owned by Naspers.
Its businesses and investments serve more than 1.5 billion people in 89 markets and are amongst the leading players in 77 of those markets. The group directly employs more than 20,000 people globally, with many more employed by its associates.
Prosus also owns stakes in some of the worldβs leading and fastest-growing internet brands, such as Mail.ru, OLX, Avito, letgo, PayU, Tencent, iFood, Swiggy, DeliveryHero, Udemy, eMAG, and MakeMyTrip.
Prosus is a strategic global investor and operator focused on creating long-term value by building and scaling consumer internet businesses through organic growth and strategic M&A. It aims to build strong companies that create value by addressing big societal needs in high-growth markets with long-term potential.
Β As of 2018,Β NaspersΒ had approximately a 31%Β stake in Tencent, and is its largest shareholder.
In 2001, Naspers invested $32 million in Tencent, the owner of the messaging app WeChat, and the most valuable company in China.