Alcohol-industry heir Edgar Bronfman Jr. is reportedly preparing to buy Paramount Global, less than a week before its $8 billion merger with Skydance Media becomes official.
Bronfman, an entertainment mogul and son of the late Seagram CEO Edgar Bronfman Sr., is in talks with potential investors to back a takeover bid for National Amusements, the parent company of Paramount Global. According to the Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal cited people familiar with the matter as saying a bid could come within days, though it warned that Bronfman could reject any formal offer.
Bronfman has until Aug. 21 to make his pitch, when the “go-shop period” during which Paramount can solicit rival bids officially ends.
Paramount has announced cost-cutting measures that include selling Paramount Television Studios and overhauling subsidiary CBS’s flagship evening news program, and could have to pay Skydance Media a $400 million penalty if it chooses to make another bid.
The Washington Post has reached out to Bronfman and Paramount for comment.
The entertainment conglomerate, which owns CBS Television, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and the film studio of the same name, announced on July 8 that it would be acquired by Skydance, the film studio founded by David Ellison, son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
Paramount announced in an earnings call last week that it would lay off 15% of its workforce and write down the value of its cable network by nearly $6 billion.
The Skydance deal marks the end of the Redstone family’s decades-long reign as Hollywood powerhouses.
Shari Redstone’s National Amusements owns more than three-quarters of Paramount’s Class A voting stock through the estate of her late father, Sumner Redstone.
She has been fighting to maintain control of the company that owns CBS, which produced blockbuster films such as “Top Gun” and “The Godfather.”
But Redstone agreed to the deal on less-than-similar terms just weeks after turning down a similar deal with Skydance.
“As the industry evolves, we want to strengthen Paramount for the future while ensuring content remains king,” said Redstone, who also serves as chairman of Paramount Global.
The combined company will be valued at approximately $28 billion.
A consortium led by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital would invest $8 billion in the proposed transaction, which is expected to close in September 2025, pending regulatory approval.
Santa Monica, California-based Skydance has produced some of Paramount’s biggest hits in recent years, including the Tom Cruise film “Top Gun: Maverick” and the “Mission: Impossible” series.
Skydance was founded by David Ellison in 2010 and soon formed a production partnership with Paramount that same year.
If the deal is approved, Ellison will become chairman and chief executive officer of what will be called New Paramount.
Last month, Ellison outlined his vision for the new Paramount during a conference call about the deal.
He stressed that in addition to strengthening its core competencies, especially with a “creative first” approach, the company needs to move towards becoming a “technology hybrid” to stay competitive in today’s evolving media environment.
Sumner Redstone used his family’s movie theater chain, National Amusements, to build a vast media empire that also included CBS and Viacom, two companies that have merged and split up multiple times over the years.
Most recently, the two companies reversed a separation that was completed in 2006, only to reunite in 2019. ViacomCBS changed its name to Paramount Global in 2022.
Under Sumner Redstone’s leadership, Viacom became one of the nation’s largest media companies, including pay-television channels MTV and Comedy Central and the film studio Paramount Pictures.
With post wire
