Move over, David Ellison, because here comes Byron Allen.
The media mogul and owner of The Weather Channel has made a $30 billion offer for the debt and equity of Paramount Global, Deadline has confirmed tonight.
The official word from Allen Media Group: “Mr. Byron Allen did submit a bid on behalf of Allen Media Group and its strategic partners to purchase all of Paramount Global’s outstanding shares. We believe this $30 billion offer, which includes debt and equity, is the best solution for all of the Paramount Global shareholders, and the bid should be taken seriously and pursued.”
Bloomberg first had the news about Allen’s bid.
All of this noise comes as the media postures that Ellison’s Skydance is making an imminent play for Shari Redstone’s stake in National Amusements, the trojan horse into owning Paramount Global. Despite all the headlines about “inching” toward a deal, there’s no there-there yet, we keep hearing.
But wait, didn’t the former host of NBC’s Real People make a $3.5 billion bid for Paramount Global’s BET and VH1 last month? An insider says that deal clearly hasn’t gone through yet.
Bloomberg reports that Allen offered $14.3B for the outstanding shares of Paramount Global. That boils down to a reported $28.58 each for the voting shares of Paramount, a 50% premium to recent trading, plus $21.53 for the non-voting shares.
The reported m.o. for Allen would be to sell the Paramount film studio, real estate and IP. He would keep the linear networks, plus Paramount+ and operate the streamer more efficiently (Good luck with that). For the nine months ending in September 2023; expenses on the Paramount+ side mushroomed to $6 billion, with adjusted OIBDA at -$1.17 billion. If Allen were to pursue a deal, he’d be doing so at a time when there’s continued high interest rates.
Deadline has reached out to Paramount Global for their take on all this.
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Source: DLine
