Apollo makes $11bn offer for Paramount Global
MARCH 21, 2024 13.47 EUROPE/LONDON BY JULIAN CLOVER

Private-equity firm Apollo Global Management has made an $11 billion offer to buy Paramount Global.

The bid comes as an independent committe of the TV and film studio’s directors considers an earlier offer from Skydance Media to merge its operations with those of Paramount.

Wall Street Journal, which reported on the bid, said the Apollo offer is more than the entire market capitalisation of Paramount Global that stands at around $7.7 billion.

The studio, which is behind such hits as Top Gun: Maverick, is still an attractive proposition, but the TV business centred around the CBS network and the Nickeldoeon and MTV channels less so.

Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, and other board members have resisted selling the studio, which they consider the company’s prized asset, but they are not against selling the company in its entireity.

Redstone reunited the family’s media empire by merging Viacom and CBS in 2019, later renaming the resulting company Paramount Global, which went on to launch the streaming service Paramount+.

In addition to Apollo and the Skydance Media bid, conversations have also been held with Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast, which runs NBCUniversal.