Apollo with Paramount
Private equity firm Apollo Global Management (APO.N), opens new tab has offered $11 billion for Paramount Global’s (PARA.O), opens new tab Paramount Pictures film studio, a person with knowledge of the offer said on Wednesday, adding to takeover interest in the media conglomerate.
The film studio is considered the jewel of the Paramount media conglomerate, with an expansive movie library that includes classics such as “The Godfather” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” as well as blockbuster franchises like “Mission: Impossible,” “Star Trek” and “Transformers.” It has attracted interest from many suitors over the years, including recently.
About Paramount
The media corporation founded in 2019 by the reunion of CBS and Viacom has lost billions of dollars in worth due to the decline of the global entertainment industry. Paramount’s stock market value has dropped to $7.7 billion since then, a loss of around $17 billion.
The Redstone family is looking into options because they believe the media asset is undervalued. Following the Wall Street Journal’s initial announcement of Apollo’s bid, Paramount’s shares closed the day up about 12%.
About Apollo previous purchases
In 2022, Apollo paid $760 million to purchase a minority interest in Legendary.
Apollo did not reply to calls for comment, while Paramount Global declined to comment.
Skydance CEO David Ellison had also reportedly been seeking to take Paramount Global private by pursuing the controlling stake owned by Shari Redstone through her family’s holding company National Amusements. Skydance had reportedly been particularly keen on the Hollywood studio assets when it first approached the Redstone family.
Concurrently, earlier in March, Reliance Industries of India reached an agreement to pay around $517 million for Paramount’s whole 13.01% share in the regional entertainment network Viacom 18 Media.
