Tencent Group Plans 1 Billion Euro Loan for Universal Music Deal
Tencent Group Plans 1 Billion Euro Loan for Universal Music Deal
(Bloomberg) --
A consortium led by Tencent Holdings Ltd. is seeking a 1 billion euro ($1.1 billion) five-year loan to help fund its $3.4b purchase of a stake in Universal Music Group, according to people familiar with the matter.
Five banks - Bank of America Corp., Bank of China Ltd., HSBC Holdings Plc, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Ltd. and Morgan Stanley - are expected to provide the non-recourse financing as a club deal, said a person who isn’t authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be identified. Jane Yip, a spokeswoman for Tencent, declined to comment.
The Chinese social media and gaming giant and its partners agreed in December to buy a 10% stake in Universal Music from French media company Vivendi SA after months of talks. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of the first half of 2020, according to a statement by Tencent and Vivendi.
The purchase by the Tencent-led consortium values Universal Music at 30 billion euros. The consortium can increase its stake to up to 20% at the same valuation until next January.
To contact the reporters on this story: Apple Lam in Hong Kong at alam271@bloomberg.net;Lulu Yilun Chen in Hong Kong at ychen447@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Neha D'silva at ndsilva1@bloomberg.net, Chan Tien Hin
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