Jay Z has 99 problems and the shareholders of Swedish streaming company Aspiro are a majority of them. After rumblings of discontent from a minority group of shareholders, that same batch officially moved to block HOVs $56 million takeover bid of the Swedish company, which is the parent for WiMP and TIDAL.
The news comes from a report in Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri (via Fact). The deal had been unanimously accepted by the board of directors, but a minority group of shareholder, who control 10 percent of the company have stopped the sale, for now. The acceptance period for the offer ends on March 11 and the company cannot comment publically until that point, but the shareholders are looking for a re-evaluation on what they feel is a bad deal.
"We still believe the offer from [Jay Z's company Project] Panther is attractive for both the company and its shareholders, and recommend the offer based on this," Fredrik Bjørland, chairman of the independent board committee involved in the deal tells Rolling Stone. "We have learned from the press that some of the organizations representing minority shareholders have recommended to not accept the offer. [That] recommendation to not accept the offer involves high risk."
Back at the end of February, the shareholders sent a statement to the board that said the price "does not sufficiently value" it's long-term potential and gave reasons for "questioning the offer price."
A consistent view of the minority shareholders who have registered their holdings with the association is that the offer does not sufficiently value the company's potential.
WiMP and TIDAL use hi-fidelity lossless files, for their stream, as opposed to other serives who stream at anywhere from 192kbps to 320 kbps. Their price point is higher at $20 per month, but for audiophiles, the ability stream millions of songs in flawless quality at the touch of a button is priceless.
