Investing.com – David Ellison’s Skydance Media has reconsidered Paramount Global’s (NASDAQ:) offer to buy a number of non-voting shares of the entertainment giant for about $15 apiece, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Citing people familiar with the situation, the newspaper said the watered-down offer was made last week and gives shareholders the opportunity to include their stake in the new deal. The price per share offered by Skydance represents a 26% premium to the closing price of Paramount Global B shares on Friday.
Shares of Paramount Global rose in premarket trading Monday.
Skydance and its backers will also contribute financing to buy Shari Redstone’s National Amusements, the parent company of Paramount, which owns about 77% of the company, the WSJ reported. Skydance will also contribute at least $1.5 billion to Paramount’s balance sheet, with non-voting shareholders given the option to cash out, the WSJ added.
Negotiations are ongoing and may still fail to reach an agreement, WSJ reports.
Under the terms of the two-phase deal, which has been in negotiations for several weeks, Skydance will acquire National Amusements and then merge with Paramount. The collaboration will see Paramount, the group behind CBS and cable channels such as Nickelodeon and MTV, merge with Skydance, the maker of the hit film Top Gun: Maverick.
The previous plan called for Skydance to acquire National Amusements for $2 billion and Paramount to buy Skydance in a $5 billion all-stock deal. However, many shareholders rejected the deal.
In a note to clients, Wells Fargo analysts said the revised offer presents an “attractive opportunity” for Redstone to sell the company to Skydance. In their opinion, this move will “make everyone happy enough and preserve Paramount’s legacy.”
“This week could mark the end of a long process,” Wells Fargo analysts said.