Major record company Universal Music Group (UMG) has acquired the entire capital of the Belgian label PIAS, it announced on Wednesday.
Universal had already acquired a 49% stake in the label, with a strategic partnership starting in 2021. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. PIAS is one of the biggest independent music companies in the world, whose management will now be run by one of the industry's biggest players.
The distribution arm of PIAS, Integral, will be absorbed by Virgin Music Group, while the PIAS sub-labels will continue to exist independently under the name Pias Label Group.
PIAS co-founder Kenny Gates will remain CEO of the label and will now sit on the Virgin Music board.
“I am selling my shares not my soul. Since agreeing a strategic alliance with Universal in 2021 we have found them to be supportive and engaged partners who have added real value to our offering," Kenny Gates stated in a press release.
"The decision by myself and Michel to relinquish our remaining shareholdings in the company is a pragmatic one...We will still maintain the same values that we have lived by since our launch over 40 years ago."
PIAS was founded in Brussels in 1982. The company currently employs 300 people in 16 offices around the world.
