Paramount Studios (Wikipedia)
On Monday, Edgar Bronfman Jr., the Seagram heir and former media mogul, made it official with a $4.3 billion bid to acquire Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc. The company owns a majority of Paramount Global, owner of the famed Paramount movie studios.
The news comes just a few days after the Wall Street Journal first broke the story that Edgar Bronfman was exploring a potential partnership with several key players for an acquisition of Paramount. These include Roku, a streaming device giant, Fortress Investment Group, a financial services firm, and Hollywood producer Steven Paul. Notably, Paul had previously attempted a similar consortium bid that ultimately fell through.
Shari Redstone has been making big changes to her late father, Sumner Redstone’s, media empire. Sumner Redstone was a prominent American businessman and media magnate. He was the driving force behind the creation of a media empire that included iconic companies like Viacom, CBS, and Paramount Pictures. Shari took over the business after he died in 2020 at the age of 97.
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For example, just last week the company shattered its Paramount television studios in order to take a $500 million write-off. The studios were only established in 2013.
The days of the great American movie studios standing alongside the American auto industry and others as giants of American capitalism have long since gone. One by one, what were once seven titans, have whittled away. United Artists died, Columbia Pictures is now Sony Pictures and makes a faction of the movies it once did and Fox sold out entirely to Disney.
Paramount has been courted recently by many suitors including Apollo Global Management and the owner of the Weather Channel Byron Allen. In December there were reports that Shari Redstone was looking at a merger between Paramount and Warner Bros, which operates the Warner Bros movie studios and cable television networks like CNN and HBO.
In making this offer, Edgar Bronfman is challenging the dominance of David Ellison’s Skydance Media in the race to acquire National Amusements, the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global. The latter’s portfolio includes high-profile assets such as CBS, Paramount Pictures, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, and Paramount Media Networks, and it has already agreed to a massive $8 billion-plus deal with Skydance.
Edgar Bronfman Jr. is a prominent figure known for his involvement in various industries, including film, music, and media. As the son of Edgar Bronfman Sr., heir to the Seagram liquor fortune, he inherited a significant legacy.
While he had initial aspirations as a musician and filmmaker, Bronfman eventually took the reins of the family business. He oversaw the acquisition of PolyGram and its merger with Universal Music Group, creating a global music powerhouse.
Edgar Bronfman’s tenure at Seagram was marked by both successes and controversies. His decision to sell Seagram’s crown jewels to focus on media and entertainment raised eyebrows.
