WMG has informed Believe's board that it will not be submitting a binding offer to acquire the French music company.
Believe's board of directors initially welcomed a WMG bid after WMG publicly expressed interest in placing an offer. It gave WMG a deadline of 4/7 to formally submit.
On 4/6 WMG stated: “Warner Music Group Corp. announced today that, after careful consideration, it has decided not to submit a binding offer for Believe. WMG thanks the Ad Hoc Committee and Believe’s leadership team for their time and cooperation and wishes the company every success in future.”
Believe's board also issued a statement on the development, which puts Denis Ladegaillerie's consortium back in play: “The Ad-Hoc Committee of Believe has taken note of WMG’s decision not to submit a binding offer for a combination with Believe (“WMG”), as set out in WMG’s press release of earlier today. The Ad-Hoc Committee will review the situation with all interested parties (including the Consortium composed of EQT, TCV and Denis Ladegaillerie, as well as the historical shareholders of Believe) to determine next steps in relation to the possible evolution of the Company’s control and will inform the market accordingly.”
