Investors backing Edgar Bronfman’s bid for Paramount Global include producer Steven Paul and John Paul Dejoria, who months ago had been working on their own offer, as well as child actor turned crypto king Brock Pierce, and Nurali Aliyev, a Kazakh businessman and grandson of the former president of Kazakhstan. UK investment firm BC Partners and Fortress Investment Group are other names in the mix, Deadline has learned.
Bronfman stepped in last night with an offer worth $4.3 billion, looking to disrupt a merger agreement between Skydance and Paramount announced July 7 that was set to be sealed at 11:59 pm ET on Aug. 21 if no “superior” proposal arrived before then.
Bronfman’s letter to Charles Phillips, head of Paramount’s special board committee evaluating offers, asks to extend a so-called ‘go-shop period,” Deadline hears, which the committee can do for 15 days if a rival offer looks viable. It said the group still needs a few more days to present Paramount with signed financing commitments and a binding offer letter, Deadline has learned from someone with knowledge of the letter.
Bronfman is offering Shari Redstone $2.4 billion for her family holding National Amusements, which controls Paramount Global through its lock on Class A voting shares — the same sum agreed to by David Ellison‘s Skydance. About $1.5 billion would flow to the company’s balance sheet to pay down debt — ditto for Ellison. The rest would go towards a $400 million breakup fee to Skydance.
Bronfman offers no cash-out for Paramount’s army of Class B nonvoting shareholders. Ellison had set $4.5. billion to buy out some Class A and B shares for, respectively, $23 and $15.
Paramount Global fell today in a down market after news of the bid but have been gaining back ground, off about 0.54%.
The chair of Fubo, scion of the Seagram drinks empire and former head of Universal and Warner Music, is said to be pitching his offer as cleaner and less dilutive, since it doesn’t include a merger. A Skydance second step after gaining control of Paramount calls for Par to buy it in a dilutive all-stock merger worth $4.5 billion.
Regulators will need to look at that but no major impediments are anticipated.
Members of Bronfman’s investor group said it would be prepared to commit about $5 billion in total capital, according to a person with knowledge of the letter.
“I think the board has to take a look at it. You don’t have the dilution. On the other hand you also don’t have half of the B stock being taken out,” says one Wall Streeter.
Paramount and Skydance, backed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and RedBird Capital, started talking late last year and after some false and a messy process completed a deal last month. The back and forth was said to be related in part to Skydance coughing up some cash for shareholders besides Redstone.
Phillips, a former Wall Street banker, served as president of Oracle from 2003 to 2010.
NAI and Paramount have been directing queries to reps for Paramount’s special committee, which did not return requests for comment.
