Deutsche Bank has raised its valuation of Universal Music Group 45% to $33.19 billion, up from a previous $22.86 billion. That values UMG higher than the market capitalization of its parent company Vivendi, which currently sits at $32.35 billion.
“With the hype around UMG stake sale having subsided, there is now scope for valuation to surprise to the upside in 2H 2019,” says Deutsche Bank says. The bank sees music streaming revenue growing to $21B by 2023 from $7B last year, reports Seeking Alpha.
Vivendi has said that it would like to sell up to 50% of UMG if it can find the right partner. With the help of several investment bankers and blessing of its shareholders, Vivendi is actively on the hunt.
Liberty Media, which controls Sirius XM and owns a big stake in Live Nation has expressed strong interest. Other’s mentioned are Tencent, Alphabet/Google, Facebook, Amazon, Spotify, Apple and Alibaba.