Pershing Square proposes $64 billion Universal Music merger with acquisition company

April 7 (Reuters) - Bill Ackman's Pershing Square on Tuesday proposed merging its acquisition vehicle with Universal Music Group with a plan to list in the United States in a deal aimed ‌at reviving the world's biggest music label's value.

Pershing Square's cash-and-shares offer values Universal Music at around 30.40 ‌euros per share, representing a 78% premium to last close price at 17.10 euros and making the deal worth 55.75 billion euros ($64.31 ​billion), according to Reuters calculation.

Universal Music Group - the company behind recording artists including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Drake - did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Amsterdam-listed entertainment company's shares jumped around 13% in the early trading on Tuesday, while top shareholder Bollore Group's were up 6%.

PERSHING HOPES NEW YORK LISTING WILL BOOST UMG SHARES

Pershing's move comes ‌after UMG last month delayed a plan ⁠for a U.S. listing, walking back on an agreement with Pershing, which had exercised its right to request a U.S. offering and had argued a New York listing would ⁠boost UMG's share price and liquidity.

In a letter to UMG directors, Ackman said its management had done an "excellent" job of running a strong business and strategic execution, but its share price has languished since its listing in 2021.

He blamed uncertainty ​over ​the 18% stake held by Bollore Group, the delay to ​the planned U.S. listing and underutilisation of its ‌balance sheet, among other things.

Under Tuesday's non-binding proposal, Pershing's SPARC Holdings would merge with UMG and the new entity, to be called Nevada Corporation, would be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Talent agent and former Walt Disney Company president Michael Ovitz would join the UMG board as chairman, Pershing Square said.

Pershing Square said that under the transaction UMG shareholders would receive a total of 9.4 billion euros in cash and 0.77 shares in Nevada ‌for every share held in UMG.

The cash portion of the ​new proposed deal would be funded by Pershing from its SPARC's ​rights holders, debt, and net proceeds from the ​company's stake in Spotify, it said.

Bollore Group did not immediately respond to a request for ‌comment.

A spokesperson for Vivendi, which is UMG's second-largest ​shareholder, did not comment on ​the proposal.

Tencent Holdings, UMG's third-biggest shareholder, did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year, Pershing Square said. It has a 4.7% ​stake according to LSEG data, making ‌it UMG's fourth-biggest shareholder.

($1 = 0.8674 euros)

(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru and Mateusz Rabiega in Gdansk; ​Additional reporting by Che Pa in Beijing, Inti Landauro and Mathieu Rosemain in Paris, Jerome Terroy ​in Gdansk; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Joe Bavier)

byMario Satorik

in

April 07, 2026

Pershing Square proposes $64 billion Universal Music merger with acquisition company

April 7 (Reuters) - Bill Ackman's Pershing Square on Tuesday proposed merging its acquisition vehicle with Universal Music Group wi...

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Are Newspaper Engagement Announcements the One Wedding Trend That Has Real Staying Power?

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."

Anyone who thinks print is dead should talk to a weddings editor at theNew York Times. Or theWashington Postor theBoston Globeor any small-town chronicle, wherethe romance beat is alive and thriving. Even as wedding announcements, like other customs, have evolved to suit contemporary tastes, the demand for ink endures.

Which is perhaps not surprising given that we live in an era in which overexposure has become de rigueur, and everyone you know has an expensive wedding publicist on retainer. But as the just-the-facts announcements of yesteryear have been eclipsed by a new style of narrative-driven coverage, the newspaper weddings section has become one of the few remaining places that operates as something like a meritocracy: It’s about the story, not the status. And no, you still can’t buy your way in.

“I think there’s much more interest because of social media,” says event planner Marcy Blum, a 39-year veteran in the businesswho has seen trends come and go, sometimes twice over. “It’s not just about who reads theTimeson Sunday. Once it’s printed, then you see it on Insta­gram.” Given her clout and relationships in the industry, Blum says she’s often brazenly asked in advance by prospective clients if she can secure wedding-section coverage. She wields her influence with discretion. “The reason I’m friends with editors is because they know I won’t do that. I’ll only send them something that I think works for them, as well.”

What exactly makes an ideal match for a weddings editor who is perennially drowning in submissions? “I’m always interested in stories that have a cinematic feel to them,” says one editor at a national publication. The focus has shifted dramatically, too, from social status and family lineage to the narrative of the romance.

Susanna Treacy and Nicholas Wiegand’s talemade the cut last December, when their Manhattan wedding was featured in theNew York Times’s “Mini Vows” section. “There’s a classic, Old New York feeling to the weddings section,” Treacy says. “Nick and I are old souls. A lot of it was a celebration of the city, and it would have made it come full circle to have it acknowledged.” She surmised that their chances were improved by using a wedding planner and photographer who had worked on earlier weddings published in theTimes. “I thought maybe we’d have a shot at it,” she says. Nonetheless, she followed the paper’s standard submissions guidelines and got the approval several days after the big event.

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“We say explicitly in the submission form that if you don’t hear from us within two weeks of your wedding, you can assume it hasn’t been selected,” the national editor says. That doesn’t always deter pushy types. “I’ll still hear from publicists representing more notable couples, ‘just checking in.’ ” Occasionally newlyweds ask what they might do to increase their odds, often phrasing their inquiries in ways nuanced enough to remain open to interpretation. However, the editor emphasizes, there’s absolutely no quid pro quo. “We have very strict standards.”

Placement can be bought, of course—in the form of an ad, like the one that ran in theBoston Globelast December, featuring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson styled as a newly engaged couple. The image was a publicity stunt for the forthcoming filmThe Drama, but it also underscored a lingering truth: Published wedding announcements still eclipse social media as the most coveted way to see—and be seen. “I’m going to custom-frame the print version and put it somewhere in our home,” Treacy says.

An Instagram post, after all, doesn’t hang on a wall.

Top: To promoteThe Drama, in which Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are a couple with premarital, well, drama, A24 took out a faux announcement in the Boston Globe.

This story appears in the April 2026 issue ofTown & Country.SUBSCRIBE NOW

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Americans want weight-loss pills for cost and convenience

By Leah Douglas

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - Americans starting weight-loss medicines for the first time want lower cost and greater convenience as they consider pills from Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly, according to seven doctors who specialize in obesity.

Novo's Wegovy pill has been on the market since January, while Lilly's just-approved Foundayo joins the fray this week.

Reuters interviews ‌with the specialists show a promising landscape for oral weight-loss drugs as the companies compete for share in the fast-changing obesity treatment market seen topping $100 billion a year in the next ‌decade.

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk launched injectable Wegovy in 2021. The pill, like injectable Wegovy and Ozempic for diabetes, has the active ingredient semaglutide.

In the three months since its approval, the oral version has appealed to patients for its lower cost and ease, ​the doctors said.

The pills don't need refrigeration, are more discreet and don't require the use of needles, said Dr. Christina Nguyen, an obesity and family medicine physician in Atlanta.

"One person said I'd rather stay fat than ever use a needle. That's a true fear," she said.

Lilly's Foundayo pill, with active ingredient orforglipron, will begin shipping on Monday.

PILLS VS INJECTIONS

All seven doctors said they had begun prescribing oral Wegovy, and three said they have prescribed the pill to about 10% of their patients.

Of those patients, most are taking a GLP-1 for the first time, rather than switching from injectables, and have not yet reached the highest dose, the doctors said.

"It is expanding ‌access to people who are not sure that an injectable is something ⁠they would feel comfortable doing on themselves, might be leery of needles, and they're excited to have an option that is easier and more familiar to take," said Dr. Stefie Deeds, an internal and obesity medicine specialist in Seattle.

If patients are tolerating an injectable GLP-1, doctors are reluctant to switch them to pills ⁠unless requested.

"The patients we see who are taking medicines, whether it's Wegovy or (Lilly's) Zepbound, we're not telling them to switch to oral Wegovy if they're doing well," said Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medical College. Aronne has consulted for Lilly and was an investigator on the orforglipron clinical trial, and is an advisory board member of both Lilly and Novo.

Zepbound, with the active ingredient tirzepatide, has been shown in ​trials ​to reduce weight by some 20% or more. That makes it the preferred option for treating patients with severe obesity, ​especially those with more complex cases, doctors said.

"For somebody who is in the ‌lower end of the weight spectrum, people who are more likely to be seen by primary care physicians, they would be more likely to use the orals," Aronne said.

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In trials, Foundayo led to a 12% reduction in body weight and oral Wegovy led to about a 14% reduction.

LILLY PILL EXPANDS OPTIONS

Several of the doctors said they were eager for Lilly's pill, chemically known as orforglipron, to be approved so they would have a more flexible option to present to patients.

Oral Wegovy must be taken on an empty stomach with just a sip of water 30 minutes before any other medications or food and drink. Lilly's Foundayo can be taken any time of day without food or water restrictions.

Nguyen said that if the Lilly pill is competitive on price with oral Wegovy, "most likely everyone will go with the orforglipron."

Novo spokesperson Liz ‌Skrbova said that based on its survey results, most patients would not find the timing restrictions to be disruptive.

Semaglutide has ​also been found in trials to have other health benefits like reducing cardiovascular risks.

"I can’t guarantee that this totally different ​type of molecule is going to carry the same benefits," Dr. Michael Weintraub, an endocrinologist at ​NYU Langone Health, said of the new Lilly drug.

A Lilly spokesperson said the company is still studying Foundayo and that many participants in its clinical trial saw ‌some reduction in markers of cardiovascular risk.

DRUGS STILL PRICEY

Patients consider many factors when ​picking a GLP-1, but by far the most significant ​is cost, the doctors said.

And there, pills have an advantage. The self-pay price for both oral Wegovy and Foundayo starts at $149 per month for the lowest dose, compared to $299 for Zepbound and $349 for Ozempic and injectable Wegovy.

Because of restrictions introduced on insurance coverage for GLP-1 medications, doctors said they spend significant time discussing with patients how to afford the drugs. When covered, out-of-pocket costs ​could be as little as $25 or $50 per month.

"I feel more like a financial ‌planner these days than a physician," said Dr. Catherine Varney, an obesity medicine physician and associate professor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine who is also part ​of the Lilly speakers bureau and advisory board.

Varney and other doctors expressed concern that even with lower-cost pills, weight-loss drugs are still largely unaffordable.

"This still is a market for ​upper-middle-class and above," Varney said.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)

byMario Satorik

in

April 06, 2026

Americans want weight-loss pills for cost and convenience

By Leah Douglas WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - Americans starting weight-loss medicines for the first time want lower cost and g...

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