Jay Z’s bid to buy Aspiro, the Swedish music stream firm behind WiMP and Tidal, has been blocked by the company’s shareholders.
Project Panther Bidco Ltd, a company that Jay Z’s Shawn Carter LLC controls, made the $56 million cash deal offer just last month.
According to Swedish business paper Dagens Industri (via TNW), however, a minority of Aspiro shareholders are challenging the bid, which means Jay Z can’t move forward with the buyout.
It’s an interesting move by the shareholders, particularly as Aspiro’s board of directors previously ‘unanimously recommended’ the deal.
Had it been successful, it would’ve given Jay Z access to Tidal and WiMP’s wide range of operations, capitalising on markets in the UK, USA, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Poland. Tidal hopes to roll out across 30 countries by the end of March.
Sune Karlsson, the shareholder’s equity association’s chairman – Aspiro Power – said: “We will recommend our members say no to the offer.”
He continued: “We have accumulated more than 10 per cent of the owners, which is enough to block it.”
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Shareholders have until March 11 to decide whether to accept the offer, after which it expires.
According to the report, shareholders are currently in talks to negotiate better terms for the deal.
Jay Z was, as of May 5 2014, the third wealthiest hip-hop artist, boasting a net worth in excess of $520 million.