iWorld
Limelight’s Adam Diep joins Ownzones as VP – client solutions
MUMBAI: Veteran business development and technical marketing executive Adam Diep has joined Ownzones Media Network as the vice president – client solutions, it was announced by Aaron Sloman, Chief Technology Officer at the OTT EntTech company.
Ownzones Media Network is a global “tribrid” media company combining content, distribution and technology solutions for the motion picture, television and digital entertainment industries.
In his new post, Diep will lead technical client engagement to offer robust OTT solutions and digital media logistics utilizing Ownzones’ proprietary delivery platforms, OTT management systems, and advanced suite of device software and apps. He will also build technology and industry relationships and champion strategic initiatives in business development, product management and marketing.
“Adam will help solve OTT and app migration challenges confronting our clients by using our best-in-class product and workflow solution,” said Sloman. “His experience and proven track record for delivering innovation will be invaluable to Ownzones.”
Diep brings 15+ years working with startups to Fortune 500 companies as a technology and business management consultant. The recent 10 years, he has focused on the digital media distribution and online streaming markets and advises many of the studios, networks and broadcasters on their digital video workflows and online distribution strategies.
Diep comes to Ownzones from Limelight Networks, operator of one of the world’s largest and fastest content delivery networks, and recently served as the Director of Product Management of the company’s Video Platform and Services based in Tempe, AZ.
The tech entrepreneur also founded and served as the Principal Consultant at WhDiYo Digital, a digital media consultancy, applications development and project management company specialized in building complex online services. He is active with the local Orange County startup community and is an Expert-In-Residence at the UC Irvine’s Applied Innovation incubator as well as a judge for the Business Plan competition.
Diep holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of California, Irvine and an M.B.A. from the Merage School of Business. He resides in the Greater Los Angeles area.
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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.
