Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman's mega-SPAC seals $4 billion deal to buy 10% of Universal Music

• Bill Ackman has agreed a deal to buy 10% of Universal Music Group for about $4 billion.
• Ackman's Pershing Square Tontine Holdings will remain a public company following the transaction.
• Shareholders are set to have UMG and PSTH shares plus the chance to back a new investment vehicle.

Bill Ackman's pitch to buy 10% of Universal Music Group (UMG) for about $4 billion has been accepted, the billionaire investor announced on Sunday. He also confirmed his intention to pursue two more multibillion-dollar deals, paving the way for fresh intrigue after seven months of speculation about his original target.

Ackman's Pershing Square Tontine Holdings (PSTH), a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), will purchase the minority stake in Drake and Billie Eilish's record label from its parent company, Vivendi. The French media conglomerate intends to list UMG on the Euronext Amsterdam Exchange in September, and PSTH shareholders are set to receive their shares in the music group before the year ends.

"When the transaction is completed, our shareholders will directly own 10% of the common stock of an independent, publicly traded, large capitalization, extraordinary business with a superb management team," Ackman and his team wrote in a presentation about the deal.

Unusually, PSTH will remain a public company after the transaction, and seek to deploy as much as $2.9 billion on another business combination. Ackman and his team are already searching for a compelling target, they said.

PSTH shareholders are set to receive UMG shares, continue to own PSTH shares, and will also be handed warrants to buy shares of a special-purpose acquisition rights company (SPARC) for $20 a pop. The SPARC, which hasn't been approved by regulators yet, could be armed with up to $10.6 billion to pursue a separate business combination.

Ackman's SPARC is similar to a SPAC, but it doesn't let investors buy its shares until it has struck a deal. As a result, it doesn't tie up their capital while it searches for a business combination, and also escapes the pressure of having to close a transaction within two years.