Jay Z has acquired a Swedish music streaming service by the name of Aspiro for $56 million. The company competes directly with services such as Beats Music and Spotify and rumors that Jay Z was interested in Aspiro began circulating a few months ago. After a more than a 90% approval from shareholders, the company accepted his acquisition offer.
It’s official: Jay Z is buying an online streaming company that competes with Spotify and Apple. On Friday, the investment vehicle that the rap star used to make a $56 million bid for the Swedish technology company Aspiro announced that it had acquired enough of Aspiro’s shares to take over the company. Aspiro, which is publicly traded in Sweden, operates subscription streaming services under the brands WiMP and Tidal, which entered the United States market last fall. Jay Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, made his offer for Aspiro in late January through an entity he controls, Project Panther Bidco. Aspiro shareholders had until Wednesday to consider the offer, which needed 90 percent approval for Project Panther to take it over.