iWorld
Videocon Mobile Services unveils new logo
MUMBAI: Videocon Mobile Services is now Videocon Telecom. The company which unveiled its new logo has also roped in the internationally acclaimed young Punjabi actor and singer, Gippy Grewal as its brand ambassador.
While the new logo reflects the core values of the brand, the new face reflects the aspirations of the youth. The company through these changes intends to connect with forward-looking, modern youth segment as well as extend its market presence. The brand hopes to attract youth through Gippy’s versatility, coupled with his simplistic approach.
Videocon Telecom plans to leverage its association with Gippy using various medium. The artiste will soon be visible in newspapers advertisements, in television commercials, digital media, on billboards, on retail front displays and in on-ground brand activation activities.
“Change is always good and refreshing and brings in vibrancy in the environment. Gippy is known for his versatility and has a huge fan following not only from youth, but also from people from all walks of life. This in addition to our all new and refreshing Videocon Telecom logo reflects our core values. Together, they create a win-win situation for us,” said Videocon Telecommunications director and CEO Arvind Bali.
“Videocon group has been associated with many celebrities in the past including Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh and Shruti Haasan among many others. This is yet another association that will go a long way in building our brand,” he added.
Gippy was the first and last choice for Videocon. “He is a self-made youth icon with possibly one of the largest fan following and one of the best voices. We seek to use his charisma extensively in our forthcoming marketing initiatives,” informed Bali.
Gippy who is now a part of the Videocon family said, “Videocon Telecom is a very young and vibrant brand to which I can easily relate to. And this is the very reason that I didn’t have second thoughts in associating myself with the brand.”
“What I like the best about Videocon Telecom is that it always strives to delight its consumers by bringing something new. Staying true to its image of being a futuristic and progressive brand, it keeps coming up with innovative products and services benefiting the end user. I was even more delighted with this association when the company shared its future plans with me including the 4G rollout plans and ambition to come back as a PAN India player,” added Gippy.
iWorld
Bill Ackman makes a $64bn bid for Universal Music Group
The hedge fund boss wants to list the world’s biggest record label in New York and thinks he knows exactly what ails it
NEW YORK: Bill Ackman wants to buy the world’s biggest record label. Pershing Square Capital Management, the hedge fund run by the billionaire investor, submitted a non-binding proposal on Tuesday to acquire all outstanding shares of Universal Music Group in a business combination transaction worth roughly $64.4 billion (around 55.8 billion euros).
Under the terms of the offer, UMG shareholders would receive 9.4 billion euros in cash, equivalent to 5.05 euros per share, plus 0.77 shares of a newly created company, dubbed New UMG, for each share held. Pershing Square values the total package at 30.40 euros per share, a 78 per cent premium to UMG’s closing price on April 2.
The deal would see UMG merge with Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, with the combined entity incorporating as a Nevada corporation and listing on the New York Stock Exchange. New UMG would publish financial statements under US GAAP and become eligible for S&P 500 index inclusion. Pershing Square says the transaction is expected to close by year-end, with all equity financing backstopped by Ackman’s firm and its affiliates, and all debt financing committed at signing. The transaction would cancel 17 per cent of UMG’s outstanding shares, leaving New UMG with 1.541 billion shares outstanding.
Ackman has a long history with UMG. Pershing Square first bought approximately 10 per cent of the company from Vivendi in the summer of 2021 for around $4 billion, around the time of UMG’s listing on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange. He has since trimmed that position, raising around $1.4 billion from the sale of a 2.7 per cent stake in March 2025, and resigned from UMG’s board in May 2025, citing new executive and board obligations arising from recent investments.
His diagnosis of UMG’s troubles is blunt. The company’s stock has fallen around 33 per cent over the past twelve months on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange, and Ackman lays out six reasons why. These include uncertainty around the Bolloré Group’s 18 per cent stake in the company, the postponement of UMG’s US listing, the underutilisation of UMG’s balance sheet, the absence of a publicly disclosed capital allocation plan and earnings algorithm, a failure to reflect UMG’s 2.7 billion euro stake in Spotify in its valuation, and what Ackman calls suboptimal shareholder investor relations, communications and engagement.
The Bolloré stake has long cast a shadow over the company. Cyrille Bolloré stepped down from UMG’s board in July 2025 as the Bolloré Group battled the French financial markets regulator over its stake in Vivendi, which holds a further capital interest in UMG. UMG had confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in July 2025 for a proposed secondary listing in America, but put those plans on hold in March 2026, citing market conditions.
Ackman has kind words for UMG’s management, at least. “Since UMG’s listing, Lucian Grainge and the company’s management have done an excellent job nurturing and continuing to build a world-class artist roster and generating strong business performance,” he said. But he made his diagnosis plain: “UMG’s stock price has languished due to a combination of issues that are unrelated to the performance of its music business and importantly, all of them can be addressed with this transaction.”
In other words, Ackman believes UMG is a great business trapped inside a broken structure. If the board agrees, he intends to fix that, loudly and in New York.
