Ellison’s Paramount Offer Has a $15-a-Share Sweetener

1 year ago

(Bloomberg) -- Film producer David Ellison’s offer for Paramount Global includes an option for nonvoting shareholders to cash out a portion of their stock for about $15 a share, according to a person familiar with the matter.

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The offer, a roughly 26% premium to Friday’s closing price, is for only some of the shares, according to the person, who asked to not be identified because the discussions aren’t public.

Spokespeople for Paramount and Ellison’s Skydance Media declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Sunday on the offer.

The cash payout is the latest attempt by Ellison to sweeten the terms of a deal that has faced opposition from some investors. The son of Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison is looking to take over the film and TV giant through a multi-step process that involves him buying out the Redstone family’s controlling stake and then merging his company into Paramount.

A third part of the transaction involves Ellison and his partners investing billions of dollars more in the business, either through a share offering or debt repayment.

A special committee of Paramount board members recommended Ellison’s latest terms last week. Now the decision is largely in the hands of Shari Redstone, Paramount’s chair and the matriarch of the family that owns about 77% of the voting stock.

Paramount’s annual meeting is Tuesday.

(Corrects composition of special committee in penultimate paragraph.)