Paramount‘s special committee has considered the competing bid from Edgar Bronfman Jr. to buy National Amusements and take control of Paramount, and it’s at least curious at what it sees.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Paramount has extended the “go-shop period” in which other interested bidders could try and match or beat to the deal agreed to with David Ellison’s Skydance. The committee had the responsibility to consider anything that “is or would reasonably be expected to lead to a superior proposal” compared to what Skydance put on the table. It means the committee is now seriously considering the competing offer and will keep this M&A saga rolling a little longer.
After Paramount agreed to a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance, the company opened a 45-day window in which others could match. Late on Monday, Bronfman formally submitted a $4.3 billion bid, saying that his offer is “far more valuable” than Ellison’s, that it avoids the risks and costs of merging Paramount with Skydance, and it provides a better deal for average shareholders rather than just Shari Redstone.
Just before news of the extended period broke, Bronfman sweetened his deal: $6 billion.
It’s still less than the $8 billion Ellison is putting up. But Ellison’s deal requires that Paramount buy his company in an all-stock transaction, which Bronfman argues dilutes the shareholder value, leading some onlookers to criticize it as a sweetheart deal for Redstone.
The special committee seemed to at least want to entertain that proposal and has extended the window of the “go-shop period” by 15 days.
Reps for Bronfman declined to comment. Reps for Paramount’s special committee and Paramount did not return IndieWire’s request for comment.
Bronfman is the heir to the Seagram’s fortune and is the chairman of Fubo, as well as a former media executive who led Warner Music Group. His bid brings together 19 different backers, including “Baby Geniuses” producer Steven Paul, former Turner CEO John Martin, and child actor turned crypto investor Brock Pierce, to name a few.
As was originally reported by the Wall Street Journal, Bronfman believes he’s identified $3 billion in cost savings in Paramount, whereas Skydance sees $2 billion worth of savings. It’s expected his plan could result in Paramount selling major assets, potentially doing away with Paramount+, and getting out of the streaming game entirely by turning Paramount into an arms dealer for other streamers.
Ellison will of course have a chance to sweeten his offer further and likely has the financial firepower to do so, considering his father is Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
