“Vivendi SA sold its stake in Beats Electronics LLC to Apple Inc. for $404 million as part of the iPhone maker’s takeover of the headphone company,” Kristen Schweizer reports for Bloomberg.
“The stake was about 13 percent, Paris-based Vivendi said today, and was held by the company’s Universal Music Group, the world’s largest record label,” Schweizer reports. “The investment almost doubled in value from an estimate of $214 million in September, said Conor O’Shea, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux in Paris.”
“Apple agreed to buy Beats for $3 billion in May, its biggest-ever acquisition, with founders musician Dr. Dre and music-industry executive Jimmy Iovine joining the iPhone maker,” Schweizer reports. “While the deal, projected to close in the current quarter, includes Beats headphones and other hardware, Apple also is getting access to an Internet-based music streaming service, Beats Music.”
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