Paramount said it is considering a competing takeover bid led by Seagram heir and media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. and will extend a so-called go-shop period with merger partner Skydance Media.
Paramount, owner of the film studio Paramount Pictures, the television network CBS and CBS News, had planned a 45-day go-shop period, a window of time in which competing offers could be examined, agreed merger with the film studio Skydance last month.
On Wednesday, a special committee of Paramount’s board of directors announced that it would extend the deadline for reviewing Bronfman’s offer by another 15 days.
While the statement did not provide details of the new offer, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bronfman is offering $6 billion to buy National Amusements, which controls 77 percent of Paramount’s voting stock as well as a minority stake in Paramount. The offer also includes a $16 per share offer to Paramount’s nonvoting shareholders, a 44 percent premium to Wednesday’s closing price.
Bronfman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CBS MoneyWatch.
By comparison, the Skydance deal offers non-voting investors $15 per share, or one non-voting share of the new company. Skydance offered to pay $2.4 billion for National Amusements.
“There is no assurance that this process will result in a superior offer,” Paramount’s special committee said in Wednesday’s statement. “The company does not intend to disclose any further developments unless it determines that such disclosure is appropriate or otherwise required.”
Skydance, an entertainment company founded in 2010 by David Ellison, the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, has produced or co-produced successful films and television shows, including “Top Gun: Maverick” and the streaming series “Reacher.”
Bronfman, the former CEO of Warner Music Group, is the current chairman of streaming service FuboTV.
