Vivendi Sells Additional 10 Percent Stake in Universal Music to Tencent-Led Consortium

Singer-songwriter Neil Young ("Down by the River," "Heart of Gold") is the latest music star to strike a catalog deal, selling a 50 percent stake in his song catalog to investment firm Hipgnosis for an undisclosed price.

Variety Staff Follow Us on TwitterUniversal Music Group has announced a strategic expansion of its Sub-Saharan Africa leadership team, with Sipho Dlamini and Elouise Kelly named CEO and COO of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, respectively, and Chinedu Okeke named managing director of Universal Music Nigeria.Dlamini will continue to oversee all of UMG’s operations within English-speaking Africa.

Fans of Kourtney Kardashian are once again accusing her of having a baby bump and being pregnant. The 41-year-old mother of three posted a series of Instagram throwback vacation pictures in a tiny pink bikini from a 2018 trip to Los Cabos, Mexico, and a number of fans mistakenly thought they were current and that Kourt appeared pregnant.

That’s "Psycho." An on-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy allegedly had sex with a woman near the Bates Motel section of the Universal Studios lot — and accidentally left his microphone on for a dispatcher to hear a blow-by-blow of the sleazy romp. TMZ obtained a clip of the X-rated encounter between the unnamed deputy and a woman near the section of the lot in Universal City devoted to the Alfred Hitchcock classic.

Stassi Schroeder is just a few weeks away from becoming a first time mother. The former Vanderpump Rules star had a rollercoaster 2020, but she definitely will be having a Happy New Year when her little girl is due to arrive in the first week of Jan. 2021. Stassi shared an Instagram stories mirror selfie on Dec. 22, absolutely glowing while showing off her bare baby bump. She’s in the home stretch at 38 weeks pregnant.

Rebecca Davis editorUniversal Music Japan has appointed Rui Suzuki as its Tokyo-based chief financial officer starting on Jan.

Flip or Flip star Tarek El Moussa and Selling Sunset‘s Heather Rae Young have jetted off to Mexico for a romantic Cabo getaway. The blonde beauty, 33, and her fiance, 39, were seen soaking up the sunshine at a luxe hotel on December 18.

Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae Young hang out by the pool in a cabana while enjoying the sunny weather on Friday (December 18) in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

A consortium led by China’s Tencent has exercised an option to purchase a further 10% of Vivendi’s Universal Music Group. The deal values the company at €30BN.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefFrench media conglomerate Vivendi said on Friday that a consortium led by China’s Tencent will exercise its option to acquire a further 10% stake in Universal Music Group, raising its holding to 20%.A Tencent consortium completed its deal to buy 10% of UMG in March this year. It retained an option running until January 2021 to double its stake, through a second purchase on the same valuation.

Shirley Halperin Executive Editor, MusicUniversal Music Group chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge was one of the first music industry executives to contract COVID-19 this year, entering the hospital shortly after his 60th birthday celebration at the end of February.

Stassi Schroeder is ready to meet her baby girl! The Bravo alum, 32, who’s expecting her first child with husband Beau Clark, shared a (relatable) pregnancy update on December 15. — “37 Weeks & Over It,” she wrote over a mirror selfie of her growing belly, via Instagram Stories. Stassi posed in a white lace bra and a pair of grey sweatpants.

Lawmakers in Mexico on Tuesday approved a controversial reform to the National Security Law to "regulate and monitor all activities of foreign agents," which critics say will dramatically set back U.S. and Mexico relations and hamper efforts in the battle against drug cartels.

With its theatrical window deal signed by AMC and Cinemark, Universal and Focus Features have continued to lead the struggling pandemic box office as “The Croods: A New Age” earned its third straight No. 1 weekend and the studio’s seventh straight weekend atop the charts with $3 million from 2,115 screens.Overseas, the film added $6.6 million in China and $8.4 across all overseas markets, including openings in Mexico and Ecuador.

The death of country music legend Charley Pride is being questioned by several of the genre’s stars, who are wondering whether his performance at the County Music Association’s indoor awards show a month before he acquired Covid-19 may be connected.