By Dawn Chmielewski
(Reuters) – Media veteran Edgar Bronfman Jr. submitted a roughly $4.3 billion offer on Monday to acquire National Amusements, the company that owns a majority stake in entertainment giant Paramount Global, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The offer includes $2.4 billion in debt and equity for National Amusements, the person said. Bronfman would also contribute $1.5 billion to Paramount’s balance sheet, which could be used to repay the debt, the person said. The offer adds $400 million to cover breakup costs to end a competing deal.
The competing bid for the parent company of Paramount Pictures, the CBS broadcast network and MTV marks another twist in a sale process marked by a number of unexpected turns.
Skydance Media and its partners reached an agreement last month to acquire Paramount in a complex transaction in which it would buy out the Redstone family’s majority stake in Paramount and then merge with the larger publicly traded company.
The deal included a 45-day prospecting period for Paramount to solicit and evaluate other offers. That period ends Aug. 21. If Paramount selects another bidder, it will pay Skydance a $400 million breakup fee.
The Wall Street Journal had previously reported Bronfman’s offer.
Bronfman argued his offer was superior because it would not involve a second stage of the transaction in which Paramount would acquire Skydance, another source familiar with his reasons told Reuters. Paramount had already agreed to buy Skydance in an all-stock deal that values the independent media company at $4.75 billion, the companies said.
A special committee of Paramount’s board is expected to meet Wednesday to determine whether Bronfman’s bid has a reasonable likelihood of success, the second person said.
Paramount’s board may extend the bid deadline to September 5 to give it time to evaluate the competing offer.
Bronfman did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. A spokesman for Paramount’s board declined to comment.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Aurora Ellis)
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