The New York City Pension Fund has issued a subpoena to testify to block Earl Skydance Param's merger in the lawsuit, according to two sources close to the situation.
The pension hopes that the former Warner Music CEO and current executive chairman of FUBOTV will be able to reveal whether Project Rise Partners will merge with Paramount by submitting a legitimate bid to challenge Skydance's $8 billion deal.
Daphna Ziman is leading the project's rise bid. This is valued at $8.8 billion, including the assumption of nearly $5 billion in debt. According to Skydance, Bronfman is Ziman's Cinemoi, a bankrupt cable network focusing on fashion and cinema.
On behalf of public service workers, the pension, supervised by New York mayoral candidate Brad Lander, sent a subpoena to 69-year-old Bronfman this week. He will be ordered to answer questions next week or so by the Delaware Chance Court, which is handling the case, the source said.
“They want to know if PRP funding is legal,” the source said.
In a letter filed in court earlier this month, Skydance called for Project Rise, who allegedly tried to derail the merger, claiming that evidence of “fraud” and “misrepresentation” in competing offers was revealed.
Skydance also increased the chances that Bronfman, who made his own late attempt to buy Paramount just in August, would fall behind in Project Rise's bid. If so, they insisted that Paramount Board had already considered his offer and that there was no need to do it again.
“Mr. Bronfman and/or “Bronfman Group” have personal and financial relationships
PRP principal (Jiman) and syndicated member (Mr. Gross) propose a PRP scam
The bid could be motivated by and at least by Mr. Bronfman's failure to bid in advance.
Command further investigation. ”
Ziman and Bronfman declined to comment.
Initially, NYC Pensions had sought the court for a restraining order to block the merger. They then retracted the request, but they are considering reintegrating for an injunction if Bronfman confirms that Project Rise's bid is legal, sources said.
If Bronfman can't provide evidence that PRP is raising appropriate funds, the pension will wait to see if David Ellison's long-term merger with Skydance will eventually pass.
The FCC signed the Paramount merger ahead of the November election while investigating allegations of biased editing of CBS's “60 Minutes” interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
