EXCLUSIVE: Sony will not be one of those rival parties trying to shore up a better bid during Paramount Global‘s Go-Shop period following the $8 billion offer by the David Ellison’s Skydance Media. This is according to sources tonight.
The news formally puts to rest the only other confirmed offer on the table to acquire Paramount.
Sony and Apollo jointly made a preliminary $26 billion offer – after a solo bid by Apollo was rebuffed – then signed an NDA and began due diligence just after Paramount’s exclusive negotiating window with Skydance ended.
After a close look at the books and given potential regulatory issues, Sony refined the offer. But foreign ownership rules in broadcasting and doubts about federal watchdogs allowing two more major Hollywood studios to merge still hung over a deal, and do today,
Paramount has 45 days – through August 21 — to entertain other offers and two 90-day extensions after that if there are good faith negotiations that might lead to an agreement that’s better than what Skydance is offering. If Paramount opts to accept another offer, it will pay Skydance a termination fee of $400 million.
A special committee of Paramount Global’s board will evaluate any new offers and the risk of a deal not making it past federal watchdogs.
Barry Diller and his company IAC is left as a potential suitor.
Edgar Bronfman Jr. was also interested. One difference now is that any new proposal would have to be for all of Paramount, not just Shari Redstone’s controlling stake in the company held via National Amusements. That would eliminate other parties like a consortium led by Steve Paul, which was interested in acquiring National Amusements.
Sony was essentially after the Paramount studio and had plans to cut the more burdensome parts of the conglom, i.e. auctioning off CBS, linear channels like MTV and Paramount Plus streaming service. Some industry players at the time believed Apollo was eyeing the Paramount Melrose lot as a real estate play. Industry suits, talent reps, filmmakers and content creators around town sweated the idea of losing another major Hollywood studio after 20th Century Fox was gobbled up by Disney. The whole notion of breaking up Paramount, we hear, didn’t really win the Shari Redstone team over.
In addition, exhibition was worried that a combined Sony-Paramount merger would mean less movies overall, this despite some insiders telling Deadline that the plan was to keep theatrical output steady for both labels in order to compete with streaming and other studios.
Calls to Sony for comment were not returned.
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