Paramount extends deadline for Skydance rivals after Bronfman raises buyout bid

By Bill Peters

Former Warner Music CEO said to have bumped up his offer for the media properties to $6 billion

In the latest twist to a media-industry deal-making drama that refuses to end, a board committee at Paramount Global on Wednesday said it is keeping the door open for a new, last-minute offer from a onetime media executive intended to lure the iconic entertainment company away from its plans to merge with Skydance Media.

That newer offer, made days before a Wednesday deadline for rival bids, is from Edgar Bronfman Jr., a former chief executive of Warner Music Group Corp. (WMG) and Seagram. In a statement, the committee at Paramount (PARA) said that deadline had been extended until Sept. 5, at least for Bronfman.

Shares of Paramount were up 2.4% after hours on Wednesday.

Paramount, which owns channels like CBS and Comedy Central, made the announcement after the Wall Street Journal earlier in the day reported that Bronfman had upped his offer for media heiress Shari Redstone's National Amusements, the movie-theater chain that is Paramount's controlling shareholder, and thus a piece of Paramount itself.

The Journal said that Bronfman bumped that offer up to $6 billion. Earlier this week, the Journal reported that Bronfman had made a $4.3 billion bid.

The Journal on Wednesday also said that Bronfman's new takeover effort included a $1.7 billion offer that would give nonvoting shareholders, and shareholders who weren't Redstone, a chance to cash out at a $16-a-share premium - compared with the $15 offered to those shareholders by Skydance.

Paramount, in its statement on Wednesday, said there was "no assurance" that any negotiations with Bronfman would lead to a better deal than Skydance's offer. And it said it does not intend to discuss further developments "unless and until it determines such disclosure is appropriate or is otherwise required."

Paramount declined to comment beyond the announcement. Skydance Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

After months of back and forth that often played out in the press - and shareholder concerns that any deal would reward Redstone at their expense - Redstone in early July agreed to a merger deal with David Ellison's Skydance Media, the company behind "Top Gun: Maverick" and other action films.

Under that deal, Skydance would merge with Paramount via an acquisition of National Amusements. But that deal included a 45-day window, known as a "go-shop period," that still allowed a board committee at Paramount to weigh other bids that might roll in.

Paramount's committee, in its announcement on Wednesday, said it reached out to "more than 50 third parties" during that period to weigh their interest in buying the company. "With respect to other parties, the go-shop period will expire at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time today," it said.

Centerview Partners is working as financial advisor to the special committee. Cravath, Swaine & Moore is serving as legal counsel.

Paramount's stock is down 25% so far this year, as the media and entertainment industry reckons with shrinking cable-TV viewership and streaming losses, and as Paramount reckons with a year of drama at the top.

In April, Bob Bakish stepped down as Paramount's chief executive, and was replaced by a three-person office, amid reported tensions over a possible deal with Skydance. Earlier this month, Paramount announced a big round of layoffs.

-Bill Peters

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08-21-24 2157ET

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