Paramount's Parent Attracts Bids from Bronfman Jr and Steven Paul

Paramount Global’s PARA controlling company, National Amusements, has attracted interest from former media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr., backed by Bain Capital. The company is offering between $2 billion and $2.5 billion.

This interest comes as Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount, is negotiating to sell a majority stake in National Amusements to Skydance Media, potentially merging Paramount with Skydance.

Hollywood producer Steven Paul is also preparing a $3 billion offer for National Amusements, the Wall Street Journal reports. Paramount stock is trading lower on Monday.

The sale of NAI would result in a new controlling shareholder for Paramount. At the same time, the Skydance deal would offer non-Redstone shareholders a premium buyout option and provide $1.5 billion to reduce Paramount’s debt.

Shari Redstone received the fewest votes among directors in the company’s recent board election, with 32.2 million votes.

She also received the most votes against her election, totaling over 905,000.

During the annual shareholder meeting, Paramount’s co-CEOs presented a restructuring plan aimed at $500 million in annualized cost cuts, potential asset sales, and exploring partnerships for the Paramount+ streaming service, Reuters reports.

The company faces challenges with declining traditional TV business and has yet to recover lost revenue through its streaming service.

In May, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRK BRK sold its entire stake in Paramount.

Earlier reports suggested Sony Group Corp SONY and Apollo Global Management Inc APO were jointly bidding for Paramount.

Paramount stock lost over 27% in the last 12 months. Investors can gain exposure to the stock via The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund XLC and Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF RSP.

Price Action: PARA shares were trading lower by 1.08% at $11.88 at the last check on Monday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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