Edgar Bronfman Jr. submits bid to acquire Paramount

Former top Seagram and Warner Music executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. has entered the fray to acquire Paramount Global, adding a new dimension to the bid for the famous Hollywood entertainment company.

Bronfman on Monday submitted an offer to buy the Redstone family’s holding company, National Amusements Inc., which controls the media conglomerate that owns CBS, MTV, Comedy Central and the famous Paramount movie studio, for $4.3 billion, a source familiar with the matter said. the matter he was not authorized to comment publicly.

The offer comes a month after Shari Redstone and other Paramount board members approved an offer from David Ellison’s technology company Skydance Media to buy Paramount in a multi-way deal valued at 8.4 billions of dollars.

Bronfman made his offer just two days before Paramount accepted alternative offers to Skydance’s proposal. The special committee of Paramount’s board must now weigh the two offers for the struggling media company.

Read more: Paramount and Skydance agree to merge, marking a new chapter for the storied media company

The Skydance deal allowed a 45-day window in which Paramount could consider competing offers.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Bronfman’s offer.

A Paramount spokesman declined to comment.

It is not clear that Bronfman’s bid will be successful.

Shari Redstone has long favored Ellison’s bid over other potential suitors, believing the 41-year-old entrepreneur has the ambition, experience and financial muscle to pull Paramount out of its doldrums. His father, Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison, also supports his son’s effort to build a larger media empire. The plan is to merge Skydance and Paramount.

Under the terms of the deal, Skydance and its financial partners RedBird Capital Partners and private equity firm KKR agreed to provide a cash infusion of $1.5 billion to help Paramount pay down debt. Their deal allocates $4.5 billion to buy shares of Paramount’s Class B shareholders who are eager to exit. Non-Redstone shareholders would receive $23 per share to exit. Investors could keep their shares in the new, larger entity.

Read more: Paramount closes TV studio and begins major layoffs ahead of Skydance merger

The Redstone family would receive $1.75 billion for National Amusements — a company that owns the Paramount family’s stock and a regional movie theater chain founded during the Great Depression — after the company’s sizable debts are paid off.

Skydance’s subsequent merger with all shares in Paramount values ​​the former at $4.75 billion.

The story continues

Bronfman’s offer would give the Redstone family about $1.75 billion. However, it does not appear to provide for a buyout plan for non-Redstone shareholders.

The late Sumner Redstone’s national entertainment was once valued at nearly $10 billion, but pandemic-related theater closings, last year’s Hollywood labor strikes and a heavy debt burden have sent his fortune spiraling. Over the past five years, the New York-based company has lost two-thirds of its value.

Paramount agreed to pay Skydance a breakup fee of $400 million if the deal does not close.

Bronfman’s offer would cover the $400 million breakup fee.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.