UNIVERSAL Music shares soared on debut in Amsterdam yesterday, as the hotly-anticipated IPO set off a frenzy of buying that now values the record label at more than €47bn (40bn).

Chairman of the group Sir Lucian Grainge is expected to receive at least a £105m cash bonus from the share surge, as it secured a valuation of more than £29bn on its debut.

Universal Music, the group behind Lady Gaga and the Rolling Stones, had recently dished out some $300m for Bob Dylan's music catalogue, as it bolsters its streaming offering as the second largest music publisher in the world.

The company was spun off by France's Vivendi, which handed a 60 per cent stake in Universal to its shareholders. The listing on the continent was seen as a coup for Amsterdam.

(c) 2021 City A.M., source Newspaper