Edgar Bronfman Jr. has abruptly dropped his eleventh-hour bid for Paramount Global as the clock ticked down on the time frame that his group had to finalize a firm offer that could be a viable alternative to Skydance Media’s pending takeover agreement.
“Tonight, our bidding group informed the special committee that we will be exiting the go-shop process. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to participate,” Bronfman said in a statement Monday night.
“We continue to believe that Paramount Global is an extraordinary company, with an unrivaled collection of marquee brands, assets and people. While there may have been differences, we believe that everyone involved in the sale process is united in the belief that Paramount’s best days are ahead. We congratulate the Skydance team and thank the special committee and the Redstone family for their engagement during the go-shop process,” Bronfman said.
Bronfman’s group threw a wrench in Skydance Media’s plan to close its takeover agreement for Paramount Global that is valued at about $8 billion. Skydance and Paramount Global have been doing the M&A tango since late last year. A number of industry players, from Apollo Global Management to individual operators such as Byron Allen and Steven Paul, have made noise over the past eight months about trying to buy Paramount. Bronfman, in the final days of the go-shop window built in to the Skydance-Paramount takeover agreement, went the farthest with the Paramount Global board special committee tasked with handling the tumultuous M&A process.
It’s understood that Bronfman and his backers came to the conclusion Monday that they did not have the time needed to hammer out the complicated financial and governance agreements necessary to present the Paramount Global committee with a firm counterproposal. Clearly they also got no signals from Paramount that there was any will to pursue another extension with Skydance to allow for discussions. Skydance reluctantly baked in a six-week period after sealing the sale agreement that Paramount Global could seek superior offers. That was done in an effort to protect Paramount Global controlling shareholder Shari Redstone from shareholder lawsuits as the terms of the Skydance transaction are more favorable to her as the owner of preferred shares than they are to owners of the company’s common stock.
Like the Murdochs, the Redstones have been one of the last vestiges of the media baron families that once controlled the nation’s largest studios, networks and publishing giants. The Skydance transaction will mark a milestone transition as the Redstone family largely exits the media and entertainment business.
A representative for Skydance had no comment on Bronfman’s withdrawal.
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