August 08, 2024 – Sony Group has officially ended its plans to acquire the film and television production giant Paramount Global, according to Hiroki Totoki, the President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of Sony Group. This announcement marks the conclusion of Sony’s potential acquisition of Paramount.
Previously, there were reports that Sony, along with private equity giant Apollo Global Management, was interested in acquiring Paramount for approximately $26 billion. However, rumors surfaced that Sony was reconsidering this plan.
During Sony’s first-quarter financial results announcement, Totoki stated that acquiring the entire Paramount “does not quite align with our strategy.” He added that such a move could pose significant risks, as it might not fit the company’s capital allocation structure.
Totoki’s comments confirm a report by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on Tuesday, which stated that Sony had decided not to make a new offer for Paramount Global following the media giant’s agreement to merge with independent film studio Skydance Media.
Paramount, one of Hollywood’s oldest production companies, owns popular IPs like “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “The Godfather.” Last month, Paramount Global announced its merger with Skydance Media. The deal involves a two-step process: first, Skydance acquires National Amusements, which holds the controlling stake in Paramount owned by the Redstone family, for 2.4billion.Then,SkydancemergeswithParamount,offeringitsshareholders4.5 billion in cash or stock, and providing an additional 1.5billiontostrengthenParamount′sbalancesheet.Thecombinedentitywillbevaluedatapproximately28 billion.
Upon completion of the transaction, Skydance’s investor group will hold 100% of the Class A voting shares and 69% of the issued Class B shares in the new Paramount. This will give Skydance control over Paramount’s film and television studios, as well as its cable channels such as CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central.
This significant change marks the end of the Redstone family’s decades-long control over Paramount. The family has been the controlling shareholder of the company since media mogul Sumner Redstone first acquired it in 1994. Following Sumner’s death in 2020, his daughter Shari Redstone took over the reins of the company.
