2024-04-19 01:21:01
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management are discussing a joint bid for Paramount Global, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The companies have not yet approached Paramount, which is in exclusive talks with Skydance Media, an independent studio headed by David Ellison, although some investors have pushed Paramount to explore other options.
The competing offer, which is still under structure, would provide liquidity for all of Paramount’s outstanding shares and take the company private, the source said.
Sony would own a majority stake in the joint venture and run the media company, as well as its library of movies, including classics like “Star Trek,” “Mission: Impossible” and “Indiana Jones” and TV characters like SpongeBob SquarePants, according to the source.
Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Tony Vinciquerra, a media veteran with extensive experience in film and television, is likely to run the studio and leverage Sony’s marketing and distribution services.
Apollo is likely to take control of the CBS broadcast network and its local television stations, due to restrictions on foreign ownership of broadcast stations, the source said. Sony’s parent company is headquartered in Tokyo.
The New York Times was the first to report the discussions between Sony and Apollo. Paramount and Sony declined to comment. Apollo might not be reached for comment.
The private equity firm already made a $26 billion offer to buy Paramount Global, whose enterprise value at the end of 2023 was around $22.5 billion.
A special committee of Paramount’s board decided to continue advanced negotiations with Skydance, rather than seek a deal “that may not come to fruition,” two people with knowledge of the board’s action said.
The board is considering the possibility of buying the smaller independent studio in a stock transaction worth 4-5 billion dollars.
Skydance is separately negotiating the acquisition of National Amusements, a company that owns the Redstone family’s majority stake in Paramount, according to a person familiar with the terms of the deal. This transaction is subject to the merger between Skydance and Paramount. (Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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