Group Black, a Black-owned, Miami-based media company, has expressed interest in buying a majority share in BET Media Group, the New York Times reported on Friday.
The company was founded in 2021 by Travis Montaque, Richelieu Dennis and Bonin Bough and recently put in a bid of $400 million for Vice Media. According to the Times, Group Black is teaming up with CVC Capital Partners, a private-equity firm based in Luxembourg, as well as prominent Black business people and artists for the BET deal.
As TheWrap reported on Monday, Tyler Perry and Byron Allen are also interested in buying BET from Paramount Global, although talks are still in the early stages, and Paramount may decide not to sell ownership of BET Media Group, which includes VH1.
BET was launched in 1980 by founder Robert Johnson as a channel specifically catered to African-American audiences. Paramount acquired BET in 2000 for $2.3 billion. In addition to BET linear channel and VH1, BET Media Group oversees BET+, a joint venture with Perry, and BET Studios, a joint venture with Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones.
According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, BET’s annual profit — not including BET+ or the network’s studio business — declined from $300 million to $215 million in the last 10 years.
Group Black and BET didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. Paramount declined to comment to The Times.
