Universal Music Group starts a second share buyback worth 250 million euros

Universal Music Group has begun an additional share buyback program worth 250 million euros, about 288 million dollars, Music Business Worldwide reported on August 10. UMG said the program, launched August 6, is capped at 25 million shares and expected to finish no later than September 10, with repurchases handled by a single broker across the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange, Turquoise Europe, Aquis Exchange Europe and CBOE Europe, conducted under the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

The launch deploys the remainder of an additional 500 million euro buyback authorization that UMG shareholders approved at the company's annual general meeting on May 13. That authorization combined with UMG's original 500 million euro program, its first-ever share repurchase, to form a 1 billion euro buyback plan the company announced on April 29. UMG completed the original 500 million euro program in July, spending 499.2 million euros to repurchase 26,707,529 shares.

In June, UMG had already used 250 million euros of the additional authorization to buy 14,156,285 shares directly from Bill Ackman's Pershing Square as the fund exited its stake, a purchase that followed UMG's rejection of Pershing Square's 64 billion dollar takeover proposal. Thursday's launch spends the remaining 250 million euros of that authorization.

UMG is funding the buybacks in large part by selling down its stake in Spotify, a 3.10% holding at the end of 2025 that it is halving. The company banked gross proceeds of 403 million euros, about 467 million dollars, from Spotify share sales in the first half of 2026, and Music Business Worldwide estimates artists could be due around 131 million dollars of that money.

UMG chief financial officer Matt Ellis detailed the buybacks on the company's second-quarter earnings call on July 30, telling investors the firm had completed its first 500 million euro program in July and used 250 million euros of its second authorization to buy the Pershing Square stake in June.

UMG posted second-quarter revenues of 3.294 billion euros on July 30, up 13.3% year over year at constant currency, with adjusted EBITDA of 674 million euros, a 20.5% margin. The company's financial net debt stood at 4.131 billion euros at the end of June, reflecting its Downtown Music Holdings acquisition and the stock repurchases; UMG intends to use the repurchased shares to meet obligations under its 2022 Global Equity Plan or to reduce its share capital.