Paramount Global and Skydance Media are making progress on a deal that would merge the media companies and buy out controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, according to people familiar with the matter.
Paramount Global’s special committee, in charge of accepting or rejecting transactions, and David Ellison’s Skydance Media, backed by private equity firms KKR and RedBird Capital Partners, are narrowing in on how to value Skydance’s assets as part of a merger, as well as how much equity to add to the company as part of a recapitalization, the people told CNBC.
The sides are close to agreeing on a value for Skydance, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. The entertainment company would be valued at around $5 billion and merged with Paramount Global, they said. Skydance CEO Ellison and the private equity firms plan to raise roughly $4.5 billion to $5 billion in new equity, the people said; some of that — about $2 billion — would be used to pay Redstone, and another substantial portion would be used to pay down debt.
The buyers would ideally like to get a deal done in May, said the people. Three of the people said that Paramount Global was slow to provide data during due diligence to the Skydance consortium, which has slightly pushed back the timeline on a deal. The exclusivity window on merger talks ends May 3, but the Skydance consortium wants to extend it by two weeks, said the people.
Skydance plans to name Ellison as CEO of Paramount Global and former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell as president, said two of the people. Current Paramount CEO Bob Bakish would depart the company, the people said.
Separately, private equity firm Apollo Global Management and Sony have held preliminary discussions about teaming up for a deal that would buy out all Paramount Global shareholders at a premium, according to people familiar with the matter. The special committee hasn’t received concrete details on that offer and isn’t viewing it as a competitive bid to Skydance’s interest, two of the people said.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/25/paramount-skydance-inch-closer-to-a-merger-agreement.html
Skydance Still In Pole Position For Paramount As Two Hash Out Terms; Sony & Apollo Waiting In The Wings
Private equity giant Apollo — after an initial offer for the studio and a solo $25+ billion bid for the whole company got zero traction — joined with Sony for a like-sized cash offer that would take Paramount private and likely split it up. The partners have not made a formal offer yet given the ongoing Paramount-Skydance talks. But Deadline hears they are considering doing so even before exclusivity ends, and, certainly, if no deal emerges. Skydance has a big head start and Sony sees its joint offer more like a reasonable alternative if that falls through. The duo would also need time for due diligence, the deep dive into Paramount’s financials offered to Skydance.
https://deadline.com/2024/04/skydance-paramount-shari-redstone-sony-apollo-1235895060/
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