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Apollo Global Bids $11 Billion For Paramount Pictures As Media Conglomerate Weighs Sale Options Amid Industry Challenges: Report
Paramount Pictures, renowned for its iconic film library featuring classics like The Godfather and Titanic, finds itself on the auction block amidst a challenging landscape for the entertainment industry.
Apollo Global Management, a major private equity firm, has offered $11 billion for Paramount Global’s Paramount Pictures film studio, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a person with knowledge about the development.
The film studio is considered the jewel of the Paramount Media conglomerate. Its library consists of more than 1000 film titles, including top films like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and The Godfather, as well as blockbuster franchises such as Star Trek, Transformers, Mission: Impossible, and more.
Braveheart, Forrest Gump, and Titanic are among the Oscar-winning films that have been under the umbrella of Paramount Pictures for the longest period.
Why is Paramount Pictures up for sale?
Shari Redstone, the media conglomerate’s controlling shareholder through her stakes in parent company National Amusement, has reportedly been reluctant to side with the studio that her father, the late Summer Redstone, acquired in 1994.
The reason for it? The deterioration of the global entertainment business has wiped out billions of dollars of value from the media company, formed through the reunion of CBS and Viacom in 2019. Since then, Paramount’s stock market value has dropped significantly. The Redstone family considers the media assets undervalued, hence their eagerness to get rid of them. 
Should Apollo close the deal for Paramount Pictures, it could possibly combine the studio with another of its Hollywood investment, Legendary Entertainment, the banner behind such films as Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong.
Apollo bought a minority stake in Legendary in 2022 by investing $760 million.
What other companies have shown interest in Paramount?
Skydance Media CEO David Ellison is in talks to acquire National Amusements, the holding company of the Redstone family. National Amusements directly or indirectly owns 77% of the voting shares in Paramount. Meaning, that whoever reigns over National Amusements, gets a hold of Paramount.
Additionally, media entrepreneur Byron Allen, per Reuters, has submitted a $30 billion offer for Paramount Global, including debt and equity. However, reports suggest that he is primarily interested in acquiring television networks and stations, intending to divest other assets, such as the film studio.
In other news, last month, Paramount Global announced it was laying off about 800 employees worldwide. That makes up an estimated 3% of its headcount.
“These adjustments will help enable us to build on our momentum and execute our strategic vision for the year ahead — and I firmly believe we have much to be excited about,” Paramount Chief Bob Bakish wrote in a February 13 memo to the staff.
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