Paramount Shareholder Mario Gabelli Doesn’t See a Negative in Granting Potential Bronfman Bid Extension

The Paramount bidding war has continued to heat up with Edgar Bronfman Jr. entering the mix. Billionaire investor and shareholder Mario Gabelli said he does not see any harm in granting the executive chairman a potential bid extension. 

Bronfman formally submitted a $4.3 billion bid Monday night to take control of Paramount Global and supersede an existing offer from Skydance Media. If accepted, the offer avoids the “inequitable governance arrangement” of the $8 billion bid by Skydance Media and removes operational distractions of a merger with Skydance, according to the offer letter reviewed by TheWrap.

The founder and chairman of Gabelli Asset Management Company Investors posted on X Tuesday that, even if not everyone is on the same page, he said it is “hard to see a negative.”

Paramount…will/should paramount special committee grant extension re Bronfman bid for NAI…Is proposal better for paramount shareholders///even if some agree it or it isn’t //hard to see negative in granting extension …even a + …I still like insight into price voting/nonvoting

— Mario Gabelli (@MarioGabelli) August 20, 2024

In his Monday night offer letter, Bronfman urged the Special Committee to consider extending the window for accepting new bids, which is due to expire on Wednesday. The committee could extend to Sept. 5 under current terms of the Skydance merger agreement.

The aim of Bronfman’s last minute bid is to double Paramount’s adjusted earnings in the first year through a combination of $3 billion in permanent cost savings and the use of technologies to enhance Paramount’s capabilities — and nearly triple its stock price, according to the 13-page offer letter Bronfman sent to Paramount’s special committee evaluating bids. 

Bronfman noted that his investor group, while offering $4.3 billion, is prepared to commit up to $5 billion for the legacy media company. 

Bronfman currently serves as the executive chairman of FuboTV and has a history of executive leadership in entertainment. He ran Warner Music Group from 2004 to 2011, after engineering its acquisition, and he also ran Universal Studios (then MCA), was Vice-Chairman of Vivendi Universal and also co-founded Fandango. He is a billionaire member of the Bronfman family from Canada, which created its wealth from liquor company Seagram.