(Reuters) -Universal Music Group (UMG) said on Saturday that billionaire Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square has no right to demand that the record label become a U.S.-domiciled company or withdraw from Euronext Amsterdam.
Ackman had said in a post on the attacks on Israeli soccer fans in the city.
Ackman said he had begun talks with UMG, on whose board he sits, to move its listing and headquarters to the United States. But UMG – whose roster of stars includes Taylor Swift – said neither the company nor its board had been involved in formulating the views presented in Ackman’s X post.
“Pershing has no right to require UMG to become a US-domiciled company or to delist from Euronext Amsterdam,” UMG said in a statement.
The company said it would comply in good faith with its contractual obligations regarding a US listing, but that any action or decision would be made based on an analysis of what is best for all shareholders.
Ackman had said in his X post that Pershing Square had the contractual right to list UMG in the US and that it would exercise this right to achieve a US listing no later than next year.
UMG noted in its statement that, according to its listing prospectus, Pershing has the right to apply for a U.S. listing provided that a Pershing entity sells at least $500 million of UMG shares as part of the listing.
Pershing Square, an investment holding company in which Ackman and his family own a 23% stake, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on UMG’s statement.
Pershing Square is also listed on the London Stock Exchange with most trading taking place in London.
(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and David Holmes)