iWorld
IoT connectivity: Huawei, Schindler tie up
NEW DELHI: Huawei has signed a Global Frame Agreement on Internet of Elevators & Escalators (IoEE) with global elevator manufacturer Schindler Group to cooperate in the future on the development of smart Internet-of-Things (IoT) components for a seamless connectivity of elevators and escalators.
Huawei and Schindler will establish global partnership to develop a Connected Elevators Solution that is open, flexible, and scalable. The new IoT connectivity solution is an important element of Schindler’s digital platform and will enable Schindler to better monitor, analyze and leverage data generated from its elevators and escalators, and support the unified connection and management of Schindler’s one million elevators around the world.
A Huawei release said more than one billion users rely on Schindler’s mobility solutions every day. Timely and efficient management of these assets is critical for safety and customer satisfaction.
Schindler Group CEO Thomas Oetterli said: “The cooperation will help us to significantly reduce time to market for our new digital offerings.” Huawei Rotating CEO Eric Xu added: “Huawei is pleased to empower Schindler’s digital transformation.”
Lux Research reported that, by 2020, the global Industrial IoT (IIoT) will be worth an estimated $ 151 billion. The IIoT includes factory machinery and industrial products, with one typical example being the Internet of Elevators & Escalators (IoEE). IoT technology transmits operational data from the elevators in real-time to enable elevator data simulation, achieving preventive maintenance through and cloud-based big data analysis. Elevator safety will be significantly enhanced, while the operational cost of the elevators can be largely reduced.
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.
