Paramount Global’s “go-shop” window, or the period in which the company can evaluate any other takeover offers, ends Aug. 21, according to securities filing disclosed Thursday.
The go-shop period allows a 45-day window for the special committee of Paramount’s Board of Directors to evaluate or seek out better offers. However, if Paramount does not choose to go with the Skydance offer, it will be forced to pay a $400 million breakup fee.
If a serious bidder emerges, the go-shop period can be extended to Sept. 5, per the filing.
This comes after Shari Redstone agreed July 7 to sell her majority stake in Paramount Global to a consortium led by Skydance, the production company helmed by David Ellison, and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital.
If the deal closes (they expect approvals to take nearly a year), Paramount would acquire Skydance, with Ellison becoming CEO of the combined company and former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell would become its president. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025 due to the need for regulatory approvals.
According to the companies, the deal would see the Skydance consortium will “invest $2.4 billion to acquire National Amusements for cash and $4.5 billion for the stock/cash merger consideration to be paid for publicly traded Class A shares and Class B shares, as well as $1.5 billion of primary capital to be added to Paramount’s balance sheet.”
A possible deal between Skydance and Paramount had been in talks for months, with Redstone rejected a deal from the consortium last month. Other suitors in the mix have included Apollo and Sony, with media mogul Barry Diller also said to have been exploring a Paramount offer.
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