Warner Music Group has restarted its flotation plans in what would be one of the first major listings since the coronavirus pandemic rattled global markets. The music label owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik said on Tuesday it would sell a 14 per cent stake, or 70m shares, targeting a price of between $23 and $26 a share. That would give Warner Music a valuation of between $11.7 billion and $13.3 billion — well above the $3.3 billion that Mr Blavatnik paid for it in 2011… The music industry has made a comeback thanks to the advent of streaming, which has funnelled billions of dollars back to the biggest labels. The owners of these companies are now looking to cash in. In December, Vivendi, which is controlled by French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, agreed to sell a 10 per cent stake in Universal Music to a Tencent-led consortium. The deal valued Universal Music at €30 billion, well above the €6.5 billion that SoftBank had offered for it in 2013… Warner Music would be the first “pure-play” music offering to investors in the streaming era. Spotify sells subscriptions to music, not the music itself. Warner Music, in contrast, made 86 per cent of its revenues last year by managing the careers of artists such as Cardi B. The recorded music industry is dominated by three large companies: Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music.?

Anna Nicolaou?