Paramount is one of the largest media companies in the United States and is reportedly up for sale or a merger. The sale would come from the majority owner of Paramount selling their share. There are many companies reportedly lining up to buy a majority control of Paramount or merge with it, including the following:
Warner Bros. Discovery
According to reports from December 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount Global CO Bob Bakish in New York to talk about a possible merger. The meeting lasted several hours and happened at Paramount’s headquarters in Times Square.
Reportedly, one of the topics discussed was merging Paramount+ and Max into a single streaming service. CBS News would merge with CNN. CBS Sports would also combine with Warner Bros. Discovery’s sports. This would bring all the March Madness games under a single ownership.
It is unclear if Warner Bros. Discovery would buy Paramount or if this would be a merger. It is also unclear who would lead this newly merged company.
Allen Media Group
Byron Allen, who made headlines last year with his unsolicited bid to buy key assets from Walt Disney, is at it again with a $30 billion offer to acquire Paramount Global, Allen Media Group confirmed to Cord Cutters News.
Allen, whose Allen Media Group owns The Weather Channel, LocalNow, and more than two dozen local affiliate channels, is offering $28.58 for each voting share of Paramount, more than twice its Tuesday closing price of $13.68, according to Bloomberg, which first reported on the news. The deal also includes an offer of $21.53 for non-voting shares. The offer to buy the outstanding shares equates to $14.3 billion.
Despite its size and breadth of assets, Allen Media Group had largely operated quietly, ironic given Allen’s roots in comedy and show business. But the spotlight shone on the company after Allen made a $10 billion unsolicited bid for the ABC network, affiliates, and cable channels like FX last summer, an offer Disney ultimately turned down.
Skydance Media
Skydance Media CEO David Ellison has made a preliminary bid to buy National Amusements, which owns a controlling stake in the media company, according to Bloomberg. Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, is also in talks about merging Skydance Media with Paramount after he takes control. The report said that both sides have hired advisors and are exchanging financial information.
The Skydance bid marks a swerve for Paramount, which had already been at the center of merger chatter after reports emerged that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount CEO Bob Bakish to talk about a potential deal. One potential aspect of that deal was merging Max and Paramount+ into a single service. The discussion set off a fair amount of hand-wringing with concerns that the further consolidation of big media studios would lead to lower quality shows and movies down the line.
There are also reportedly several investment groups looking at Paramount, but it is unknown how serious they are.
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