Buyout bid for Paramount

[lakebum431]

Like I thought-

Meanwhile, the Paramount board’s special committee will review the joint Sony-Apollo offer, floating a $26 billion all-cash buyout premium, after the May 3 expiration of the Skydance negotiating window. But that may be so the board fulfills its fiduciary duty to consider all credible M&A proposals. Insiders expect the proposal to ultimately be a deal-breaker, given anticipated regulatory hurdles required to complete such a transaction.

Skydance looks to be out also-

And Redstone is said to have reluctantly concluded that a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance, a longtime partner of Paramount Pictures, will not be possible.

Skydance’s Proposed Deal With Paramount Global Appears to Be Falling Apart

After months of M&A talks, Paramount Global and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone might be going it alone after all.

variety.com

Except it is moving forward this morning. As I said, I don't think it will ultimately fail approval. There isn't much leg to stand on to deny.

 

[Bruce]

Except it is moving forward this morning. As I said, I don't think it will ultimately fail approval. There isn't much leg to stand on to deny.

They are going to begin talking with Sony and Apollo, after the expiration of the negotiating window with Skydance.

There is a long way to go yet, just a week ago, everyone thought the Skydance deal was moving forward.

Paramount To Negotiate With Sony & Apollo But Continue Skydance Talks; James Cameron, Ari Emanuel Back David Ellison – Update

Par will start talks with Sony, Apollo but Skydance still in mix. Ari Emanuel and James Cameron back David Ellison's bid.

deadline.com

 

[Jimbo]

The Dice are Still rolling !

 

[lakebum431]

They are going to begin talking with Sony and Apollo, after the expiration of the negotiating window with Skydance.

There is a long way to go yet, just a week ago, everyone thought the Skydance deal was moving forward.

Paramount To Negotiate With Sony & Apollo But Continue Skydance Talks; James Cameron, Ari Emanuel Back David Ellison – Update

Par will start talks with Sony, Apollo but Skydance still in mix. Ari Emanuel and James Cameron back David Ellison's bid.

deadline.com

Totally right!! I'm not saying it is a done deal at all! I'm just saying that the perception of regulatory rules preventing it are not real in my opinion. I think if they come to terms it is going to get through regulatory approval. I think the only question will be around some of the local channel ownership.

 

[NashGuy]

They are going to begin talking with Sony and Apollo, after the expiration of the negotiating window with Skydance.

There is a long way to go yet, just a week ago, everyone thought the Skydance deal was moving forward.

Paramount To Negotiate With Sony & Apollo But Continue Skydance Talks; James Cameron, Ari Emanuel Back David Ellison – Update

Par will start talks with Sony, Apollo but Skydance still in mix. Ari Emanuel and James Cameron back David Ellison's bid.

deadline.com

Nah. Puck was saying that the Skydance deal wouldn't happen back in mid-April, so long as the Apollo cash offer remained on the table, given Paramount board's fiduciary duties to consider all potentially superior bids under the "Revlon" legal standard.

The Paramount Sale Vulcan Chess Theory

As Shari Redstone and David Ellison’s absurd Paramount deal marches forward, a new theory has emerged: Shari’s advisors are appeasing her for now… until they recommend the Apollo offer instead.

puck.news

Some insiders think that the regulatory hurdles for a Sony/Apollo buyout may be a bit overblown. IDK. I've always thought that Sony probably had no interest in retaining CBS anyhow, so if they made it clear to the DOJ that they and Apollo would immediately seek to divest it upon acquisition, then DOJ might not fight it. They allowed the mega Disney/Fox deal to proceed so long as Disney agreed to sell off those Fox Sports RSNs, which they did. (Heh, DOJ was doing them a favor, I'd say.)

The Walt Disney Company Required to Divest Twenty-Two Regional Sports Networks in Order to Complete Acquisition of Certain Assets from Twenty-First Century Fox

“American consumers have benefitted from head-to-head competition between Disney and Fox’s cable sports programming that ultimately has prevented cable television subscription prices from rising even higher,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust...

www.justice.gov

Or, conversely, they might structure the deal so that Apollo alone takes ownership of the CBS O&O local stations and then sells off their minority stake in Cox Media Group, which owns 12 local TV stations.

Apollo's CEO doesn't think it's much of a problem:

Apollo CEO Shrugs Off Regulatory Concerns Over Paramount Bid

The private equity firm has made a joint, nonbinding $26 billion all cash offer with Sony Pictures Entertainment to acquire the media conglomerate

www.thewrap.com

 

[Bruce]

Looks like Sony is changing their mind-

Paramount Shares Dip On Report Sony “Rethinking” $26 Billion Bid

Shares of Paramount Global dipped on a CNBC report that Sony and Apollo may be "rethinking" their joint bid for the company.

deadline.com

 

[savarese04]

Looks like Sony is changing their mind-

Paramount Shares Dip On Report Sony “Rethinking” $26 Billion Bid

Shares of Paramount Global dipped on a CNBC report that Sony and Apollo may be "rethinking" their joint bid for the company.

deadline.com

wouldn't you? there's no way all this is worth $26B. the math doesn't math.

 

[Bruce]

wouldn't you? there's no way all this is worth $26B. the math doesn't math.

Market Cap is $9 Billion, debt is $10 Billion, so at least $19 Billion to buy the company.

 

[navychop]

That doesn’t mean it’s worth $19B.

 

[savarese04]

Looks like we're in the endgame now. $8B seems to have been accepted. We'll see. Interestingly Paramount's annual meeting is tomorrow