The tangled future of Paramount has taken another twist with the emergence of a new $4.3 billion bid from Edgar Bronfman Jr. and other investors, according to published reports.
In early July, Paramount Global had agreed to merge with Skydance Media to form “New Paramount” in an $8 billion deal that included all of Paramounts media assets as well as the acquisition of National Amusements, Inc. which holds the controlling share stake in Paramount.
The agreement emerged after nearly six months of on again, off again talks with Skydance and other possible bidders.
Under the terms of the July deal, there was a 45 day window for new offers to emerge. The Skydance deal had been criticized by other shareholders as favoring Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of National Amusements.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the offer noted that “In a letter to Charles Phillips, chair of Paramount’s special committee of directors, Bronfman wrote that his investor group believes that Paramount’s business is `far more valuable’ than what Skydance is paying."
The Wall Street Journal also reported that Bronfman is offering to buy “National Amusements in an equity deal valued at $1.75 billion, equal to what Skydance has offered for Redstone’s company, plus investing $1.5 billion onto Paramount’s balance sheet, also similar to what Skydance has offered, the people said. Including debt, Bronfman’s offer for National Amusements is $2.4 billion.”
Bronfman previously ran Warner Music, Seagram and Vivendi Universal. His offer will pit him against David Ellison’s Skydance. Ellison is the son of Larry Ellison who cofounded Oracle and is one of the world’s richest men with a net worth of around $170 billion. In his letter to Paramount, Bronfman said he had lined up $5 billion worth of financing for the deal.
