By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Warner Music stock (NASDAQ:WMG) slipped 4.2% in Tuesday’s premarket following the news that stakeholder Access Industries and its affiliates will sell 8.56 million shares of the company.
Morgan Stanley, the underwriter to the transaction, will sell the shares from time to time in one or more transactions on Nasdaq, Warner said in a statement.
The prospect of a rise in the public float of the shares – around 1.6% of the company’s equity – put pressure on the stock. The selling stockholders are disposing all the class A common stock they hold through the offering, the statement said.
The shares will be sold at $41 apiece, a discount of 4.5% from the stock’s closing price of $42.95 on Monday. Warner is not selling any shares of its own nor will receive any of the proceeds. The company’s equity base comprises over 514 million shares.
The shares, up 13% last year, have trailed the near 28% gains in the S&P 500.