It was probably luck for Paramount Global shareholders that Wall Street had a break in the eleventh month. The rumor did not take a vacation.
How close were Shari Redstone and David Ellison to closing a deal for NAI, which in turn closed a deal to merge Paramount with Skydance? Exactly two minutes (from the consummation meeting), according to Variety. Then an email arrived from the Redstone camp to the Ellison camp, saying that the NAI would not move forward with the deal.
More from IndieWire
The email wasn’t exactly well received. Lawyers fought, profanities flew, and Paramount Global’s (PARA) share price fell to its lowest point in five years.
What happened? Ellison had already withdrawn US$8 billion at the ATM.
After months of negotiations, including a month of exclusivity in those negotiations, Redstone backed out of a deal that would have sold his family’s National Amusements, Inc. movie theater chain to the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison.
But Redstone was reportedly angered by media leaks about how close the deal was, according to media reports. She was also none too pleased when her personal offer was diminished in favor of appeasing Paramount’s non-voting shareholders. She expected lawsuits from these common shareholders, and Skydance would not agree to protect her, and a desired vote between majority and minority shareholders did not happen either.
Still, rude – and bad business. Is there anyone else out there who still wants to buy NAI (through Paramount’s control) after all this nonsense? It is a risk and these processes are expensive. They’re also long – just ask Ellison, and he didn’t even get to the regulatory process.
But Shari still has suitors, according to Disco. Sony, Apollo and their US$26 billion (for all of Paramount Global) are still waiting patiently in the wings. Puck also says that Paramount’s special committee is prepared to do due diligence on the specific government obstacles to this potential deal. Other buyers, including Seagram heir Edgar Bronfman Jr. and “Baby Geniuses” producer Steven Paul, are still circulating their own NAI-specific offers. AND THR is reporting that Byron Allen’s initial bid for all of Paramount Global ($30 billion) – or at least one for BET – is more real than some analysts suspected.
Yes, BET is back at the table after former CEO Bob Bakish previously forgotten some multi-billion dollar offers for the brand. Showtime could also be in contention; Bakish refused several billion dollars for this one too. Pluto TV has been for sale for some time, a person with knowledge of the matter told IndieWire; Paramount denies this.
In the meantime – and it could be a long interim – Redstone is giving Paramount’s three CEOs (Chris McCarthy, George Cheeks, and Brian Robbins) 12 to 18 months to right the ship. The guys addressed shareholders earlier this month and have a town hall meeting scheduled for next week. Your basic plan it’s cost cutting, finding a partner for Paramount+ and selling some assets to pay off its $12 billion debt.
Hey, at least “Yellowstone” will be back soon – to Paramount Network (yay!), and then to Peacock (boo!).
NAI provided no comment for this piece.
The best of IndieWire
Sign up for Indiewire Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, TwitterIt is Instagram.
