Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square offers to buy Universal Music Group

Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square offered roughly $64 billion in cash and stock to buy Universal Music Group. The non-binding proposal, sent to UMG’s board, values the company at about a 78 percent premium. The plan would take the world’s largest music company private and relist it in New York, moving its listing from Amsterdam. The bid matters because it shifts control of major artists’ catalogs, moves capital market access to the U.S., and tests appetite for megadeals in the music business.