Sony Pictures and private equity firm Apollo Global Management have offered Paramount Global an all-cash offer of $26 billion to acquire the company.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, in 2017, Apollo Global Management purchased the company Invited, the largest owner and operator of private clubs. Invited is run by Dallas native David Pillsbury and, as of last year, boasted a total membership of over 430,000 at its roughly 200 golf and country clubs, stadium clubs, and city clubs around the globe.
Apollo also purchased 90% of Yahoo from Verizon in 2021.
News of the latest offer from Apollo and Sony comes in the wake of a potential merger between Paramount and Skydance Media, which is backed by private equity firms KKR and RedBird Capital. So far, Paramount’s special committee has not announced whether it will recommend the merger to Shari Redstone, a controlling shareholder of the multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate.
It remains to be seen whether Paramount’s panel will approve Skydance’s offer, decline it, or negotiate different terms.
If the merger between Paramount and Skydance falls through, Redstone could opt to negotiate a deal with Sony and Apollo. Under that agreement, all common shareholders would obtain a premium payout on the shares they hold.
In that scenario, Sony would hold a majority stake in Paramount, while Apollo would have a non-controlling minority share. The offer would also see them absorb Paramount’s $14.6 billion debt.
Apollo previously submitted a $26 billion acquisition offer for the media giant. That offer included roughly $12 billion in equity and similarly entailed assuming Paramount’s liabilities. However, within days of its submission, the board at Paramount entered into exclusive talks with Skydance, citing concerns over Apollo’s ability to line up financing.
This offer, too, followed an earlier one from Apollo to buy Paramount for $11 billion.
Paramount shares have risen since news of the pending deals broke, trading at a high of $14.92 on Friday morning.