It’s still too early to cue the end credits on the sale of Paramount Global as businessman Edgar Bronfman Jr. and his consortium of potential investors just submitted a revised—and increased—bid for the Hollywood giant at the very last minute.
Initially, Bronfman Jr.’s group submitted a US$4.3-billion bid on Monday to acquire Paramount controlling shareholder Shari Redstone’s company, National Amusements. But Bronfman was able to increase his offer to US$6 billion yesterday (August 21)—just before the 45-day go-shop period for the Paramount-Skydance merger was scheduled to end last night at 11:59 pm.
To review this new bid, Paramount’s special committee is extending the go-shop period until September 5 specifically for the Bronfman consortium. “There can be no assurance this process will result in a superior proposal,” Paramount said in a statement yesterday. “The company does not intend to disclose further developments unless and until it determines [that] such disclosure is appropriate or is otherwise required.”
During the original go-shop period, the special committee contacted more than 50 third parties to see if any of them had a potential interest in acquiring Paramount.
It remains to be seen if Bronfman Jr. will end up being victorious in the long-running blockbuster merger saga. While frontrunner Skydance Media’s US$8-billion bid earned the committee’s approval last month, the deal has been sailing through some choppy waters—from Redstone pulling out of discussions in June to a recent class-action lawsuit by shareholders, challenging the terms of the proposed merger.