Billionaire investor Bill Ackman's blank-check company Pershing Square Tontine Holdings said Monday it had dropped a deal to buy 10% of Vivendi's flagship Universal Music Group.
Ackman's SPAC last month agreed to buy 10% of the French media group's crown jewel for around $4 billion.
Vivendi shareholders recently backed the spin-off of Universal which gave the company an enterprise value of 35 billion euros ($41.55 billion). The music corporation is home to stars including Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.
However, Pershing announced Monday that its board had unanimously decided not to proceed with the purchase after discussions with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
"Our decision to seek an alternative initial business combination ("IBC") was driven by issues raised by the SEC with several elements of the proposed transaction – in particular, whether the structure of our IBC qualified under the NYSE rules," Pershing said in a statement.
This is a developing story and will be updated shortly.