Veteran media executive Edgar Bronfman has increased his offer to acquire Paramount Global with a $6-billion bid, according to reports. The bid is to buy National Amusements, the company's controlling shareholder, as well as a minority stake in Paramount itself.
It marks an increase from his earlier $4.3 billion proposal, according to Reuters.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on Bronfman's improved bid.
Paramount confirmed Wednesday that it had received an acquisition proposal from Bronfman, representing a consortium of investors, though it withheld the specifics of the offer.
Bronfman's bid is a major challenge to an existing planned acquisition deal with David Ellison's Skydance Media.
Bronfman's latest offer includes $3.2 billion in funds that could be used to reduce Paramount's debt or to buy non-voting shares from investors outside the Redstone family, offering $16 per share in cash. The allocation of these funds would be determined by both the board and the Bronfman-led investor group, the Reuters report said.
In comparison, Skydance's $8.4 billion proposal to acquire Paramount involves a two-step transaction that includes Paramount buying Ellison's independent media company in an all-stock deal.
Ellison, alongside Redbird Capital Partners, has committed $4.3 billion to purchase Paramount's Class B shares at $15 each and has pledged a minimum of $1.5 billion to support the company's financial stability.
Bronfman has matched the $2.4 billion in debt and equity terms of the Skydance agreement in his acquisition proposal, which was submitted to Paramount's special committee Chairman Charles Phillips on Monday.
National Amusements, which holds the Redstone family's controlling interest in Paramount, would be central to this deal.
In a letter accompanying the proposal, Bronfman said his offer is superior, as it avoids the complexities and potential costs of merging Paramount with Skydance. His bid also includes provisions to cover a $400 million break fee that would be owed to Skydance if his bid prevails.
Rich Greenfield, an analyst at LightShed Partners, said in a Tuesday report that several board members might favor Bronfman's bid due to the avoidance of dilution associated with the Skydance deal.
Bronfman's investor group includes Fortress Investment Group and Jeff Ubben, founder and managing partner of Inclusive Capital Partners.
However, cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce and Kazakhstani investor Nurali Aliyev, previously part of the Bronfman group, were absent from the revised list of investors presented to Paramount's board, according to reports.
The ongoing negotiations have led Paramount to extend the "go-shop" period, originally set to end Wednesday, to Sept. 5, giving Bronfman's consortium more time to finalize its bid.
The Ellison-led group is also expected to have an opportunity to counter this offer.
