According to a person familiar with the subject, film producer David Ellison’s bid for Paramount Global includes a provision allowing non-voting shareholders to cash out a portion of their stock for approximately $15 per share.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous due to the confidentiality of the conversations, claims that the offer, which represents a roughly 26% premium to Friday’s closing price, is for just around 40% of the shares. The remaining shares will transfer to the new business.
Representatives for Ellison’s Skydance Media and Paramount declined to comment. Certain elements of the purchase were previously revealed by CNBC and The Wall Street Journal.
Monday morning, Paramount’s stock in New York increased 7% to $12.74.
Ellison’s latest attempt to improve the conditions of a deal that has encountered resistance from certain investors is the cash payment. The son of Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison is attempting to acquire control of the massive film and television studio through a series of steps that include purchasing the controlling interest from the Redstone family and merging his business with Paramount. The person who asked not to be identified said that Skydance is valued at $4.75 billion in the deal that is now being discussed. This person is talking about information that is not publicly available.
A further component of the deal entails billions of dollars being invested in the company by Ellison and his associates through the debt repayment and share offering. RedBird Capital Partners and KKR & Co. are among his backers. As part of a sweetened offer, Skydance has agreed to contribute $1.5 billion to pay down debt on Paramount’s balance sheet, according to the person familiar with the situation. The offer from Skydance was previously covered by The New York Times.
According to the source, Shari Redstone, the chair of Paramount, is the matriarch of the family that owns 77% of the voting shares of Paramount through National Amusements, which is set to be sold for over $2 billion. She has been advocating for Paramount and Skydance to unite because she thinks it will be best for the heritage of her family.
Last Thursday, a special committee comprised of Paramount board members proposed Ellison’s most recent terms. Redstone now has a major say in the matter.
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