Paramount extended trade higher as sellers get more time to ‘go shop’
Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARAA, NASDAQ:PARA) shares rose around 3% on Thursday, with the Class A stock priced at $24.15, as the market reacted to the latest cliffhanging turn in the TV and movie-making conglomerate’s takeover saga.
Having agreed, finally, to be bought by Skydance Media the firm’s corporate deal makers have been in the “go-shop” period - which is often a cursory safety net for sellers, in which brokers seek out any residual buying interest, to make sure that money wasn’t left on the table.
Evidently, the brokers have indeed found some late third-act drama.
Edgar Bronfman Jr, a former Warner Music exec and an heir to the Seagram liquor fortune, has tabled a new and improved bid to buy the studio, reportedly worth $6 billion – building on a recent $4.3 billion offer.
It compares to a phased Skydance proposal, notionally worth over $8 billion.
Any transaction is complicated by Paramount’s tiered equity structure – including one class of shares that are majority-owned by National Amusements, a vehicle for Paramount’s controlling stakeholder the Redstone family.
In response, Paramount’s ‘go-shop’ has now been extended until 5 September.
It is reported that Bronfman’s offer would see the acquisition of the National Amusement shares, plus a minority shareholding in Paramount directly and the promise of an injection of new capital into the media company.
In New York, Paramount’s Class A shares were up 2.95% whilst the Class B stock gained 0.8% to $11.18.
