Edgar Bronfman Jr. Consortium Bows Out of Paramount Acquisition, Withdraws $6B Bid
Photo Credit: Hannah Wernecke
Edgar Bronfman Jr. has withdrawn his $6 billion bid for Paramount Global, paving the way for Skydance Media to go ahead.Bronfman serves as the executive chairman of the streaming service Fubo and was the former chairman and CEO of Warner Music. He originally offered $4.3 billion for Shari Redstoneās National Amusements, which is the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global. With no nibbles at that price, Bronfman upped the deal to $6 billion.
Paramount agreed to a merger deal with Skydance Media in July 2024. A special committee of Paramount board members reached out to more than 50 third-parties to gauge interest in acquiring the legacy media company. Edgar Bronfman Jr. was extended the opportunity to offer a competing bidābut the extension has now closed.
āHaving 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,ā said Charles E. Phillips Jr., chairperson of the special committee.Shari Redstoneās National Amusements has owned more than 75% of Paramountās Class A voting shares through the estate of her late father, Sumner Redstone. The 2023 book āUnscriptedā gives an unvarnished look at the last years of Sumner Redstone and turmoil his companies have faced leading up to his death and after. It highlights the collapse of Viacom and mismanagement at CBS, two large public companies owned by Redstone until he died in 2020.
With the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media, David Ellison is poised to lead the media company in its new era. Skydance Media is based in Santa Monica and has helped produce major Paramount movies in recent years including āTop Gun: Maverickā and āMission Impossible.ā The proposed combined company value of Paramount and Skydance is valued around $28 billion. The deal is expected to close on September 2025āshould regulators approve of the merger.
