Sony Pictures and private equity firm Apollo Global Management have expressed interest in buying Paramount Global for $26 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Sony would be the largest shareholder and Apollo would hold a minority stake, said the people, who requested anonymity because details of the deal have not been made public.
Sony and Apollo’s offers came first. The Wall Street Journal reported. The newspaper previously reported that Apollo had proposed buying Shari Redstone’s Paramount itself, but that Paramount’s board had concerns about the bid, including whether it would be able to arrange financing for the deal. Reported.
The newspaper reported that Paramount is considering merging with David Ellison’s media company Skydance, which has supported the production of Paramount films such as “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning.” Ta.
Earlier this week, New York-based Paramount announced that Bob Bakish would step down as CEO of the film, television and multimedia company and be replaced by a troika of executives who will form a new “Office of the CEO.”
