Shari Redstone is launching a proper auction of National Amusements, the holding company that controls struggling media giant Paramount Global, The Post has learned.
BDT Capital Partners, the bankers for Redstone, the 69-year-old daughter of late media baron Sumner Redstone, have begun circulating nondisclosure agreements to private-equity firms to view National Amusements’ financials — widening the seek for prospective bidders which to date have included Warner Bros. Discovery, based on sources near the situation.
Redstone is searching for a steep markup for National Amusements, which has a ten% stake in Paramount Global and controls 77% of its voting shares — as much as 50% of its market value, based on a source briefed on the method.
“I believe she would favor to sell all of it as an alternative of just the holding company,” a source near Redstone said, noting that talks to sell Paramount Global itself haven’t yet borne fruit. “But there won’t be a bid on the market.”
Paramount Global — whose movie studio is behind the “Mission: Unimaginable” and “Transformers” franchises, and likewise owns CBS, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV — ended Wednesday with a market capitalization of $9.4 billion, giving National Amusements’ shares in the corporate a face value just shy of $1 billion.
Shari Redstone is selling National Amusements, which owns 77% of Paramount Global’s voting shares. AFP via Getty Images
The stake might be price considerably more given the voting shares’ control over Paramount. As well as, National Amusements owns a handful of money-losing movie-theater chains including Showcase Cinemas, Multiplex Cinemas and Cinema de lux.
A rep for National Amusements declined to comment.
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Skydance, the Hollywood studio that co-produced “Top Gun: Maverick” with Paramount, is in talks for an all-cash bid for National Amusements, with Skydance CEO David Ellison getting backing from his tech tycoon father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison.
Ellison is angling to purchase not less than a majority stake in National Amusements with an eye fixed toward merging his studio with Paramount, based on the paper.
Those talks are within the “very early stages” and will collapse, the paper reported on Wednesday.
Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish met with Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav recently to debate a possible merger. Getty Images for Paramount Pictures
Redstone is casting a wider net as National Amusements faces a March deadline for a $37.5 million payment on a $175 million loan from Wells Fargo — money that it could not give you the chance to pay, based on sources.
Last May, National Amusements issued $125 million in preferred stock to its banker Byron Trott’s BDT partners, with the shares entitled to 7.75% interest.
Those obligations could make National Amusements a tougher sell to private-equity, sources said. Although buyout firms wouldn’t face the identical regulatory hurdles to a deal as media rivals, added difficulties in financing the deal would make it more difficult to show a profit, sources said.
And while Paramount is within the strategy of attempting to sell the BET network to boost its stock price, proceeds likely couldn’t be used to repay National Amusement’s debt given Paramount’s own onerous debt load, one in every of the sources said.
Last month, Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish met with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav to debate a possible merger.
RedBird Capital Partners, which backs SkyDance, co-producer of “Top Gun: Maverick,” has held exploratory talks with Redstone. ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
Redstone also has held exploratory talks with Gerry Cardinale’s private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, which backs Skydance, based on sources.
Elsewhere, National Amusements’ options look increasingly limited.
Any tech giants would face a troublesome antitrust review of a Paramount Global purchase.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s shares tanked on reports of the talks between Bakish and Zaslav.
A bid from RedBird also could face regulatory hurdles. It’s three way partnership, RedBird IMI headed by Jeff Zucker, reportedly raised $750 million from Abu Dhabi.
Nonetheless, the cash RedBird has invested in Skydance doesn’t come from its RedBird IMI fund, a source noted.
