It's official! The bidding war for Paramount Global (
PARA) has ended after Edgar Bronfman Jr. ended his pursuit of acquiring the storied Hollywood studio for $6B that challenged Skydance Media's merger deal. The exit of the Seagram Co. heir means that Skydance - run by David Ellison, son of billionaire tech maverick and Oracle (
ORCL) co-founder Larry Ellison - will become the new owner of Paramount.
Dropping out: "Tonight, our bidding group informed the special committee that we will be exiting the go-shop process," Bronfman said in a statement. "It was a privilege to have the opportunity to participate. We continue to believe that Paramount is an extraordinary company, with an unrivaled collection of marquee brands, assets and people." The decision was reportedly partly because of a tight deadline to submit financial documents.
Bronfman's decision has cleared the way for Skydance to take control of Shari Redstone's media empire. Paramount announced that it ended its "go-shop" period that allowed it to field other bidders, and now expects to complete its deal with Skydance in the first half of next year. But shares of Paramount
tumbled 4% before the bell today following Bronfman's exit.
Background: Both proposals included payment of about $2.4B to acquire National Amusements, the Redstone family company that controls Paramount, and investments in Paramount to reduce its debt. Skydance's deal includes its eventual merger with Paramount for $4.5B in cash or stock. Meanwhile, Bronfman had
sweetened his offer last week for National Amusements and a minority stake in Paramount itself to $6B from his original $4.3B proposal. (
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