It now official. Tencent consortium has officially confirmed they are acquiring 10% of Universal Music Group for over $3 billion.

Two other key elements of the deal: (i) the Consortium can, over the next 12 months, buy a further 10% stake; and (ii) majority-owned subsidiary, Tencent Music Entertainment, is also in separate discussions to acquire a minority stake in Universal’s operations in Greater China.

It now seems like there are additional companies that might acquire minority stakes in UMG in 2020.

Below is the full release from UMG CEO to his employees.

You can read it in full below.

Dear Colleagues,

I wanted to write you directly to highlight today’s announcement from Vivendi of a successful investment in Universal Music Group by a consortium led by Tencent.

Details are included in the below press release, but they are essentially in line with Vivendi’s prior statements on this matter: the consortium of investors will purchase 10% of the share capital of UMG with UMG’s full enterprise value set at €30 billion. Vivendi also announced that the Tencent-led consortium has the option to acquire up to an additional 10% of UMG’s shares by January 15, 2021, as well as a second agreement that allows Tencent Music Entertainment to acquire a minority of a UMG subsidiary company that includes our operations in Greater China.

With the exception of additional resources to further advance our strategy, everything else will remain the same: our strategic vision; our company, label and business unit names; our locations; and of course, our outstanding people.

This is an exciting development reflecting a strong validation of our business strategy, our incredible team and your excellent work. It also reflects our shared optimism about UMG’s continued role as the driving force in our industry and how focused we are on the future.

I will continue to keep you appraised of any further developments. In the meantime, thank you again for all you do.

Lucian