Edgar Bronfman Jr., the billionaire who once ran Warner Music and liquor giant Seagram, reportedly expressed interest in buying the company that owns Paramount Global on Monday, adding a new twist to the media giant’s chaotic sale.
Bronfman, backed by private equity firm Bain Capital, is considering a takeover bid of between $2 billion and $2.5 billion for National Amusements, owned by Shari Redstone and her family. According to the Wall Street Journal:.
News of Bronfman’s possible bid comes as Redstone is in negotiations to sell his 77 percent stake in National Amusements to Skydance Media, a production company run by David Ellison, the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
If the deal goes through, Paramount, which owns Hollywood studios CBS, Comedy Central and MTV, would merge with Skydance, which produced Paramount films including “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Crystal Sky Pictures CEO and Hollywood producer Steven Paul has also emerged as a potential suitor, reportedly preparing a roughly $3 billion takeover bid for National Amusements.
As negotiations with Skydance continue, it’s unclear how seriously the media heir will consider other offers, or whether other bidders will be able to raise the necessary capital.
Under the current terms of the deal with Skydance, shareholders other than Redstone Paramount will have the opportunity to cash out at a price higher than the stock’s trading price.
Additionally, Skydance and its backers, which include RedBird Capital Partners and Ellison’s father, will add $1.5 billion to Paramount’s balance sheet to help pay down debt.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the deal would involve spending an additional $4.5 billion to buy about 50% of the non-voting stock at $15 a share and either offering Redstone’s non-voting stock for $23 a share or rolling it into the new company.
Sources told the outlet that advisers to NAI, Paramount and Skydance had been negotiating over the weekend over final hurdles to the acquisition, “including how to handle potential shareholder lawsuits.”
If Bronfman and Bain enter the picture, they will need to conduct due diligence on NAI and Paramount, and it could be several weeks before a bid is revealed, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Bain’s investment committee also needs to approve the formal bid, the paper said.
Bronfman is a veteran music industry executive who has held senior roles since diversifying his family’s Seagram business in 1995. That same year, he oversaw Seagram’s acquisition of MCA, renaming MCA’s record division Universal Music Group.
The executive later oversaw Universal’s acquisition of PolyGram, creating the world’s largest recorded music company.
In 2000, the Bronfmans sold Seagram to the French conglomerate Vivendi. Bronfman retired as vice chairman of Vivendi Universal a year later. Three years later, he returned to the music industry, leading a group of investors in the purchase of Warner Music from Time Warner.
In 2011, Bronfman stepped down as CEO of the record company Warner Music after it was bought by Access Industries, controlled by billionaire Len Blavatnik. Five years later, Bronfman made several attempts to buy Time Inc., which then published Time, People and Sports Illustrated magazines, but was rebuffed.
He has served as chairman of the board of directors of streaming service Fubo since April 2020.
