The Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on April 29, 2024.
Eric Thayer | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
Media veteran Edgar Bronfman Jr on Monday withdrew from the race to bid for Paramount International, clearing the best way for Skydance Media to take management of Shari Redstone’s media empire.
In an announcement, Bronfman stated his bidding group had knowledgeable Paramount’s particular committee on Monday night of its determination to drop out of the method.
“We proceed to imagine that Paramount International is a rare firm, with an unequalled assortment of marquee manufacturers, belongings and folks,” Bronfman stated in an announcement. “Whereas there might have been variations, we imagine that everybody concerned within the sale course of is united within the perception that Paramount’s finest days are forward.”
Bronfman’s bid relied on participation of excessive internet price people, who have been uncomfortable sharing their private monetary info with the Paramount particular committee and its advisors, a supply near Bronfman advised Reuters.
Final week, a Bronfman-led investor group had proposed to take management of Paramount by a $6 billion bid, during which it might purchase the media agency’s controlling shareholder, Nationwide Amusements..
Bronfman was unable to provide you with the fairness financing package deal that was required for his bid, in keeping with one other supply conversant in the matter. A number of of Bronfman’s key fairness companions on the deal dropped out on the eleventh hour, thus scuttling any hopes he had of mounting a critical problem to the Skydance bid, the supply added.
Bronfman was required to indicate fairness financing commitments of about $6.3 billion for his takeover bid and fell wanting that determine, the supply stated, with out specifying the precise quantity Bronfman managed to drag collectively.
That supply for Paramount — house to its namesake movie studio, the CBS broadcast community and cable networks similar to Nickelodeon and Comedy Central — had threatened to derail an $8.4 billion settlement reached by Paramount and Skydance in July.
Spokespeople for Paramount’s particular committee couldn’t instantly be reached for remark. Skydance declined to remark.
