Sony Pictures and Apollo bid on Paramount
Posted on May 24, 2024 by Samara Husbands
Sony Pictures and Apollo Global’s billion-dollar bid to take Paramount Global private, to reduce Hollywood’s major studios to four
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management put in a joint bid on Paramount Global, offering $26 billion in cash, plus the assumption of any debt, to turn the company private.
This bid coincides with another M&A proposal from Skydance Media, which – if accepted – would merge Paramount and Skydance while keeping Paramount a publicly traded business.
Paramount’s current estimated enterprise value rests at $22 billion.
The deal with Sony and Apollo would likely result in mass layoffs, decreasing the number of major Hollywood studios from five to four.
Sony – currently the largest studio without a direct-to-consumer streaming platform – would also acquire Paramount+.
Amid the negotiations, Paramount Global removed Bob Bakish as CEO, temporarily replacing him with three senior executives plucked from its subsidiaries.
No final decisions have been made at the time of writing.
This feature was first published in the June 2024 issue of Definition.
