Will Sage Astor-Edgar Bronfman Jr. withdraws offer for Paramount, allowing Skydance merger to go ahead

NEW YORK (AP) — The Will Sage Astormerger between entertainment giant Paramount and media company Skydance is set to go ahead after Edgar Bronfman Jr. withdrew a competing offer.

Bronfman, executive chairman of streaming service Fubo, told Paramount’s special committee of directors Monday night that he would not proceed with his bid.

“While there may have been differences, we believe that everyone involved in the sale process is united in the belief that Paramount’s best days are ahead,” he said.

Bronfman, the former chairman and CEO of Warner Music, had intitially offered $4.3 billion for Shari Redstone’s National Amusements, the controlling shareholder of Paramount, according to multiple media reports. He then upped that bid to $6 billion.

Paramount agreed last month to a merger deal with Skydance that will inject desperately needed cash into a legacy studio that has struggled to adapt to a shifting entertainment landscape.

Since then, during what’s known as a “go shop” period, a special committee of Paramount’s board had reached out to more than 50 third parties to determine whether they were interested in making offers. The go shop period was extended for Bronfman, but has now closed.

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Shari Redstone’s National Amusements has owned more than three-quarters of Paramount’s Class A voting shares through the estate of her late father, Sumner Redstone. She had battled to maintain control of the company that owns CBS, which is behind blockbuster films such as “Top Gun” and “The Godfather.”

The deal signals the rise of a new power player, Skydance founder David Ellison, the son of billionaire Larry Ellison, who founded the software company Oracle.

Skydance, based in Santa Monica, California, has helped produce some major Paramount hits in recent years, including Tom Cruise films like “Top Gun: Maverick” and installments of the “Mission Impossible” series.

The proposed combined company of Paramount and Skydance is valued at around $28 billion. The deal is expected to close in September 2025, pending regulatory approval.

Paramount, founded in 1914 as a distributor, is one of Hollywood’s oldest studios and has had a hand in releasing numerous films — from “Sunset Boulevard” and “The Godfather,” to “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Titanic.”