Paramount Concludes 'Go-Shop' Period As Edgar Bronfman Pulls Out, Paving Way For $8.4B Merger With Oracle Scion David Ellison's Skydance

One of the biggest media takeover battles has come to an end with Paramount Global, Inc. PARA PARAA confirming late Monday that the “Go-Shop” period has ended.

What Happened: The special committee of Paramount’s board said media veteran Edgar Bronfman, Jr informed it that the proposal from the consortium of investors led by him has opted to withdraw their proposal. “Therefore, the ‘Go-Shop’ period as defined in the Transaction Agreement with Skydance Media, LLC has concluded with respect to all parties,” Paramount said in a statement.

Bronfman, a media executive and managing partner at Accretive LLC, previously headed Warner Music Group before its sale to Access Industries. The scion of a wealthy Canadian Jewish family had tabled a $4.3 billion bid for Paramount’s holding company National Amusements, owned by media executive Shari Redstone, last week. The offer was raised to $6 billion a few days later.

During the Go-Shop period, the representatives of Paramount’s special committee contacted over 50 parties regarding a potential transaction.

Charles Phillips, Jr., chair of the special committee, said, “Having thoroughly explored actionable opportunities for Paramount over nearly eight months, our Special Committee continues to believe that the transaction we have agreed with Skydance delivers immediate value and the potential for continued participation in value creation in a rapidly evolving industry landscape.”

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Why It’s Important: Bronfman, who had relied on high net-worth individuals to seal the deal had to back off as some of his coalition partners were uncomfortable sharing their personal information with Paramount’s special committee, Reuters said, citing sources.

Following the merger of CBS and Viacom in Dec. 2019, the combined company was renamed as Paramount in Feb. 2022. Paramount began talks with Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. WBD regarding a sale in December 2023. Later, in Jan. 2024, Skydance CEO David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, was said to be exploring an all-cash bid to acquire Paramount parent National Amusements. Shortly after media entrepreneur Byron Allen tabled a $30 billion offer for Paramount, including debt and equity.

Paramount’s board reportedly entered into exclusive merger talks with Skydance in April 2024 and the two parties announced a deal on July 7. The Skydance investor coalition comprised of the Ellison Family and RedBird Capital Partners, and it agreed to invest $2.4 billion to acquire National Amusements for cash and $4.5 billion for the stock/cash merger consideration to be paid for publicly traded Class A shares and Class B shares, as well as $1.5 billion of primary capital to be added to Paramount's balance sheet.

The Skydance deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Paramount’s Class B shares trading on the Nasdaq ended Monday’s session down 0.26% at $11.33, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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