(Reuters) - Media veteran Edgar Bronfman Jr. has withdrawn from the race for Paramount Global, clearing the way for Skydance Media to take control of Shari Redstone's empire and ending one of the most chaotic media bidding wars in recent history.
Paramount and David Ellison's Skydance signed a merger deal in early July. The agreement included a 45-day "go-shop" period to consider other offers. A special board committee extended the deadline for Bronfman Jr.'s consortium to Sept. 5.
The special Paramount board committee has said it has concluded the "go-shop" period and expects the deal with Skydance to close in the first half of 2025.
Here are the key events in the takeover saga:
Year Events
December CBS Corp (NYSE:CBS_old) and Viacom merge to form ViacomCBS (NASDAQ:PARA),
2019 combining mogul Sumner Redstone's media units
13 years after a split. ViacomCBS acquires a
49% stake in film studio Miramax from BeIN
Media Group for $375 million
September ViacomCBS rebrands a CBS streaming service to
2020 Paramount+ and launches it in international
markets. Sells CNET Media Group to Red
Ventures for $500 million
November ViacomCBS agrees to sell CBS Studio Center to
2021 private firms for $1.85 billion
February ViacomCBS changes its name to Paramount
2022 Global
December The chief executives of Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD)
2023 and Paramount are reported to be in talks for
a potential deal between the companies
January Skydance CEO David Ellison reportedly
2024 explores an all-cash bid to acquire Paramount
parent, National Amusements
January Media entrepreneur Byron Allen submits a
2024 $30-billion offer for Paramount, including
debt and equity
March India's Reliance Industries agrees to buy
2024 Paramount's entire 13.01% stake in local
entertainment network Viacom18 Media, for
about $517 million
March Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) reportedly offers to
2024 buy Paramount Pictures film studio for $11
billion
April Paramount's board reportedly agrees to enter
2024 into exclusive merger talks with Skydance
April Paramount replaces CEO Bob Bakish with an
2024 office of CEO comprising CBS President and
CEO George Cheeks, Paramount Pictures studio
chief Brian Robbins and Chris McCarthy, head
of Showtime, MTV and other networks
June 2024 Edgar Bronfman Jr., former chairman of Warner
Music, reportedly expresses an interest in
buying National Amusements, Paramount's
controlling shareholder
June 2024 Sumner's daughter and National Amusements
President Shari Redstone abruptly ends talks
with Skydance
July 2024 Barry Diller's digital media conglomerate,
IAC, reportedly explores a bid for Paramount
and enters into non-disclosure agreements
with National Amusements
July 2024 National Amusements reportedly reaches a
preliminary deal to sell its controlling
interest in Paramount to Skydance
July 2024 Skydance Media and Paramount agree to merge
in a two-step process, offering shareholders
$4.5 billion in cash or stock
August Paramount says it wrote down the value of its
2024 cable networks by nearly $6 billion and will
cut 15% of its U.S. workforce
August Edgar Bronfman Jr. submits a roughly
2024 $4.3-billion bid to take over Paramount
Global through the acquisition of National
Amusements
August Edgar Bronfman Jr. sweetens his offer to $6
2024 billion for National Amusements and a
minority stake in Paramount
Edgar Bronfman Jr. says his
August bidding group has informed Paramount's
2024 special board committee of its decision to
drop out of the process. The committee says
it has concluded the "go-shop" period and
expects the deal with Skydance to close in
the first half of 2025