By Dawn Chmielewski and Anirban Sen
(Reuters) – Media veteran Edgar Bronfman Jr on Monday withdrew from the race to bid for Paramount Global, clearing the way for Skydance Media to take control of Shari Redstone’s media empire.
In a statement, Bronfman said his bidding group had informed Paramount’s special committee on Monday evening of its decision to drop out of the process.
“We continue to believe that Paramount Global is an extraordinary company, with an unrivaled collection of marquee brands, assets and people,” Bronfman said in a statement. “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.”
Bronfman’s bid relied on participation of high net worth individuals, who were uncomfortable sharing their personal financial information with the Paramount special committee and its advisors, a source close to Bronfman told Reuters.
Last week, a Bronfman-led investor group had proposed to take control of Paramount through a $6 billion bid, in which it would buy the media firm’s controlling shareholder, National Amusements.
Bronfman was unable to come up with the equity financing package that was required for his bid, according to another source familiar with the matter. A few of Bronfman’s key equity partners on the deal dropped out at the eleventh hour, thus scuttling any hopes he had of mounting a serious challenge to the Skydance bid, the source added.
Bronfman was required to show equity financing commitments of about $6.3 billion for his takeover bid and fell short of that figure, the source said, without specifying the exact amount Bronfman managed to pull together.
That offer for Paramount – home to its namesake film studio, the CBS broadcast network and cable networks such as Nickelodeon and Comedy Central – had threatened to derail an $8.4 billion agreement reached by Paramount and Skydance in July.
Spokespeople for Paramount’s special committee could not immediately be reached for comment. Skydance declined to comment.