Skydance is offering Paramount’s shareholders a cash-out option of $15 per share as part of a revised deal to acquire the National Amusements-owned studio.
The offer is part of a package that was recommended on Friday by Paramount’s independent special committee over a $26 billion all-cash bid made by Sony and private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
Under Skydance’s initial two-step plan, the company offered around $2 billion to acquire Shari Redstone’s National Amusements, which owns 77% of Paramount’s class A voting stock and 5.2% of its class B common stock. The second step would then see Skydance merge with Paramount to create a combined company valued at around $5 billion.
This cash-out option is part of a move to answer opposition to the bid by Paramount’s minority shareholders, who have argued that Skydance’s bid would prioritize Redstone at the expense of the rest of the company’s investors.
In addition to Skydance, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management submitted a joint $26 billion all-cash offer for the company, which would see the former take a majority stake and operational control and the latter take a minority stake. While the two companies have signed nondisclosure agreements to be able to access Paramount’s confidential financial data as part of their due diligence, they are reported to be considering revising their offer.
A representative for Skydance declined to comment. The cash-out offer was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
