Debevoise & Plimpton LLP has advised Warner Music Group Corp. in its initial public offering of 77 million shares of Class A common stock by selling stockholder Access Industries, LLC and certain related selling stockholders, at a public offering price of $25.00 per share, representing an approximately $1.925 billion offering. The underwriters will have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 11,550,000 shares of Class A common stock from the selling stockholders. The IPO closed on June 5th, 2020, and Warner Music Group now trades on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC under the ticker symbol “WMG”. Please read the client’s press release here.
With a legacy extending back over 200 years, Warner Music Group is home to an unparalleled family of creative artists, songwriters and companies that are moving culture across the globe. At the core of WMG’s Recorded Music division are four of the most iconic companies in history: Atlantic, Elektra, Parlophone and Warner Records.
Access Industries is a privately held industrial group with long-term holdings worldwide. Founded in 1986 by British-American industrialist and philanthropist Len Blavatnik, Access identifies new strategic investment opportunities and invests in both emerging and established industries to create transformative companies and generate significant growth over time. Headquartered in the United States, Access owns strategic and diversified investments around the world in various key sectors including media and telecommunications, natural resources and chemicals, venture capital, real estate and biotechnology.
The Debevoise team was led by capital markets partners Matthew Kaplan and Eric Juergens and included benefits partner Meir Katz, tax partners Peter Furci and Michael Bolotin, M&A partner Jeffrey Rosen, finance partner Pierre Maugüé, capital markets associates Nicholas Pellicani, Stephen Asoli, Erica Reich and Aleena Aspervil, benefits associate Douglas Hirn, M&A associates Carolina de Barros and Milan Udawatta and finance associate Christine Shu Gilleland.