Paramount-Skydance Deal Faces Risk As Project Rise Revives $13.5B Rival Bid: Retail Investors Hold Back

The buyout saga for Paramount Global (PARA) may have further legs to play out. A report said media conglomerate, which has agreed to be acquired by a consortium led by David Ellison-founded media production and finance company Skydance Media, was courted by another suitor.

In an exclusive report, Variety said it obtained a legal letter, dated Jan. 24, sent to Paramount by Project Rise Partners, outlining a higher buyout offer to the SkyDance consortium’s $8 billion offer.

In the letter prepared by law firm Baker & Hostetler, Project Rise Partners said it had revised the offer made during the “go-shop” period due to the negative market reaction to Skydance’s deal. The report said that, on a per-share basis, the offer price for the Class B shares is $19, 27% more than Skydance’s $15 per share, and that for the Class A shares is the same as the latter’s. 

The $13.5 billion offer made by Project Rise Partners included $5 billion for debt restructuring and a $2 billion for bolstering the balance sheet.

The offer envisages Paramount shareholders owning 50% of its Class B shares, compared to 30% in the Skydance deal.

In late October, Project Rise Partners released an open letter to Paramount shareholders about the $13.5 billion all-cash offer it made after the ‘Go-Shop’ period ended.

Variety said Project Rise Partners’ investors remain mysterious, except for Cinemoi President and Co-Chairman Daphna Ziman and Moses Gross, CEO of real-estate firm ANM Group. But the group is also backed by industry titans, with at least one of them being one of the richest men in the world.

Paramount confirmed in early July that a special committee of its board, constituted at the request of the company’s controlling stockholder, National Amusements,  unanimously approved the Skydance deal. Later in late August, the special committee confirmed the end of the “Go-Shop” period. 

Subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025.

On Stocktwits, sentiment toward Paramount stock was ‘neutral’ (50/100) and the message volume dropped off to ‘low’ levels.

Paramount ended Friday’s session up 1.84% at $11.07,  and it gained 5.6% in January.

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