Sony Pictures, Apollo Offer to Buy Paramount Global for $26 Billion in Cash
¡Hola, mi gente! Let's dive into the latest chisme from Hollywood that’s making waves across nuestro querido mundo del entretenimiento. Bienvenidos a another chapter in the Paramount Global's saga of mergers and acquisitions —y es que está más picante que nunca!
In a move that’s shaking up the entertainment industry, Sony Pictures Entertainment teamed up with Apollo Global Management to propose a jaw-dropping all-cash buyout offer to take Paramount Global private. Mira, we're talking about a whopping $26 billion. ¡Así es! Sony and Apollo sent over their non-binding proposal esta semana to the big heads at Paramount Global, sparking excitement everywhere as reported first by the Wall Street Journal.
Ahora, let me paint you a picture. This tag-team bid includes covering debts and might bring some negociaciones on the table. They are offering a premium above Paramount's current value of $22 billion. Imagine, amigos, the drama! We're all here sipping our cafecito, watching this unfold.
Pero wait, there’s more. While this grande deal is heating up, Paramount's very own special committee is chewing over a separate offer from Skydance Media. They want to merge and keep the Paramount flag flying high in the public sphere. And guess who’s leaning towards Skydance? None other than Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder. She's all about making a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance, backed by solid players like RedBird Capital Partners and KKR.
As the plot thickens, the Paramount board, ever so discreet, and their special committee aren’t spilling any té – oficialmente, no comments at all. And mientras tanto, Apollo and Sony are also keeping their lips sealed, not jumping to respond to the buzzing inquiries.
Following the revelation of this posible mega move, Paramount Global’s stock jumped a lively 13% closing at a sweet $13.86 per share just el otro día. The streets of Wall Street are buzzing, mi gente!
The question on everyone’s mind is: ¿Qué va a hacer the Paramount board with this Sony-Apollo proposal? They've previously shown Apollo the cold shoulder, but as we say, todo puede cambiar. And let’s not forget, the exclusive chat window with Skydance closes this Friday. Tick-tock, the clock is ticking, and these talks could stretch even more thin.
Should this deal come to fruition, joining Sony Pictures with Paramount Pictures, we’re talking major cambios, including potential layoffs and the Hollywood studio count would drop as it did when Disney scooped up 20th Century. Remember when Sony, which got Columbia Pictures way back in 1990 for $3.5 billion, became the big kahuna in studios without a major direct-to-consumer streaming game? Those were the days, huh?
Más detalles emerged recently when word got out that Sony was por ahí, contemplating a joint offer with Apollo to scoop up all of Paramount Global. Before you know it, Apollo had previously dangled over $27 billion for Paramount, and even floated an $11 billion back when they only had eyes for Paramount Pictures. Both offers, though, got the gracias, pero no gracias from Paramount’s special committee.
Under this latest proposal, rumores say Sony would emerge as the majority owner of the combined empire. As for the local CBS TV stations? We’re entering complicated territory because FCC rules keep a tight leash on foreign entities owning broadcast TV stations. Sony, being from Tokyo, might need to rejig things to comply.
Y, for our grand finale, in the Skydance plot twist, Redstone might just say adiós to her shares in National Amusements, passing the torch to Skydance in an all-stock mega-deal projected around $5 billion. Paramount would stay public, and Skydance would whip out approximately $3 billion to reduce Paramount’s debt. With Ellison possibly stepping up as CEO, and Jeff Shell, former NBCUniversal’s big boss, looking at a major role, we're all watching, eagerly waiting to see how this telenovela unfolds.
Stay tuned, amigos, the next episode in the Paramount drama is sure to be lleno de sorpresas!
