iWorld
iTV’s new exec Sandeep Amar: We’ll launch video-first, multi-platform content properties
MUMBAI: Sandeep Amar, a senior leader in the Indian digital space, has joined iTV Network as the CEO of iTV – digital.
In his new role, Amar, with two decades of experience, will focus on building the digital assets for iTV Network and launch multiple new projects, he will be reporting directly to iTV founder and promoter Kartikeya Sharma.
Before joining iTV, Amar was the CEO of Indian Express Digital, prior to which he worked as the CEO for India.com, a ZEEL and Penske Media JV. Indian Express Digital and India.com properties reached leadership positions during his tenure.
Earlier, he also worked for Audiences, Times Internet Limited., Citigroup, Times Business Solutions, Zee Telefilms and The Times of India.
A six sigma black belt and alumnus of FMS, Delhi, Amar has been an avid blogger and speaker in digital space and considered as a thought leader in digital space in the country.
Sharma said, “We are happy to have Sandeep (Amar) on board at a time when the group is promoting several new-edge media solutions and working feverishly towards making information available in formats that will appeal to today’s tech-savvy consumers.”
Amar said, “We will be launching multiple projects including video-first properties, strong multi-platform digital video content properties, powerful native platforms and future tech projects in AI and Machine Learning. The key is to focus on building the future of digital publishing businesses as the metrics and environment are changing dynamically, the future is mobile, vernacular, video and strong product vision backed by future tech.”
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.
