iWorld
Moneycontrol and ketto come together to celebrate joy of holi with #Colorsofhumanity campaign
MUMBAI: moneycontrol, India’s leading financial digital platform associates with the country’s most trusted donation – crowdfunding platform to launch the #ColorsOfHumanity campaign this Holi. The campaign intends to add colours to the lives of the underprivileged kids through End AIDS India that comprises the capacity of not one but five NGOs. The campaign is inviting donations through Ketto for End AIDS India. Donors can select the cause that they would like to direct their donation towards including Education, Health or better childhood for underprivileged children in India.
The association and campaign aim to bring the joy of the festival of colours to underprivileged children in India by creating awareness and inviting donations towards building a better future for them. Donors can select a cause that they would like to support based on their preference, for which they will also receive tax benefits. The campaign will run from February 20, 2018 onwards to March 2, 2018.
Commenting on the association, moneycontrol, Business Head, Gautam Shelar said, “We are proud to bring forth the #ColorsOfHumanity initiative in association with Ketto. It is an apt partnership given our shared purpose to make a positive difference in the society. With our combined strengths, we intend to reach a wider donor base, after identifying a vital need of the hour. We sincerely hope the campaign adds many colours this Holi to the lives of those who have been bereft of basic rights such as education and health.”
Ketto, Founder & CEO, Varun Sheth shared, “Ketto is proud to partner with moneycontrol for this great initiative. At Ketto, we believe that a small contribution can turn someone’s life around completely. Holi is the festival of colours and this will add some colour in the lives of many. Our mission is to empower people and help out the less fortunate. This year, we will take a big step thanks to moneycontrol and their incredible community.”
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.
