Taking the SPAC out of Ackman

Squawk Pod

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman’s blank-check company Pershing Square Tontine Holdings has dropped a deal to buy 10% of Vivendi’s flagship Universal Music Group, following regulator concerns. Ackman discusses why he decided to pull his SPAC deal -- but is still investing in Universal Music -- the markets and his thoughts on Covid. He says the spread of the Delta variant doesn’t pose a significant threat to the economic reopening, and he sees interest rates rising on the back of the big comeback. Plus, CNBC’s Brian Sullivan reports on the new OPEC agreement to increase production by 400,000 barrels each month beginning in August. The output hike will continue through September 2022, at which point the entirety of the nearly 6 million barrels per day the group is still withholding will be back on the market. Plus, Happy Birthday to a few folks in the Squawk Box family.