iWorld
‘Kaun Kitney Paani Mein’ partners #fame to spread awareness on water crisis
MUMBAI: I am Kalam director Nila Madhab Panda has partnered the live video entertainment app #fame to promote the upcoming film Kaun Kitney Paani Mein, which is set to hit the theatres on 28 August.
The film is a satirical take on the scarcity of water. As the Official Live Video Partner of Kaun Kitne Paani Mein, #fame created more than 15 hours of live video content including exclusive trailer launches, interviews with the film’s cast, city promotional tours, press events and customised live content around the film created by talent performing on the #fame app. #fame beamers from respective cities followed the cast throughout the promotional tour to create content and engage fans with all the buzz around the film.
Apart from live beaming, #fame also produced customised content like #Bajaoed and Why to Watch with the cast of the film.
#fame CEO Saket Saurabh said, “#fame is glad to be associated with Kaun Kitne Paani Mein as the film highlights an issue like shortage of water, which normally people tend to ignore. Our younger generation should be aware of it and #fame is happy to spread KKPM’s message. With this tie-up, the enthusiasm of Kaun Kitney Paani Mein climbed up further with the trailer launches, promotional tours, special events and fan interactions with the cast all being captured live. Our aim is to bring the best live entertainment to every smartphone user.”
“Good content will work no matter where it is displayed and if the content is live, it is all the more exciting. We are happy with this tie-up because viewers constantly look out for stars when a film is about to release and #fame is exposing the cast of the film to viewers in real time. The exclusive Live Chat of Kunal Kapoor on #fame was watched by fans from various countries and Kunal was happy to answer individual questions. He unveiled the trailer on the app and spoke about the film. During the Bhubaneshwar trip, #fame reporters were constantly following the star cast as they went to various places in the city. This is definitely a great step in film promotion to be able to give something new and exciting to the viewers,” said Panda.
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.
