Sony Pictures and investment firm Apollo Global Management have submitted an all-cash offer of $26 billion to acquire Paramount Global, the Wall Street Journal reports today.
The New York Times also reports that Sony and Apollo sent a letter that served as a "nonbinding expression of interest" this week. It would make Sony a significant majority and controlling shareholder, with Apollo as a minority shareholder, reports the NYT.
It was first reported last month that Sony was in talks to join a joint bid with Apollo to buy the company. The WSJ reports that an offer letter was submitted today, signed by Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra and Apollo partner Aaron Sobel.
The NYT's previous reporting on the deal said that, if an acqusition goes through, Sony will effectively absorb Paramount's operations and brand them as part of Sony's empire. In addition to Paramount Pictures, Paramount has a bevy of TV channels under its umbrella, including Nickelodeon, CBS, Comedy Central, Showtime, and MTV, as well as streaming service Paramount+. Sony is currently the only major entertainment studio without a streaming service.
Paramount also has ownership over a variety of major IP, including Spongebob Squarepants, Star Trek, Top Gun, the Sonic the Hedgehog films, Yellowstone, and much more.
The bid comes as Paramount undergoes various shake-ups internally. For one, company veteran Bob Bakish stepped down as CEO on Monday (leading to an unconventional nine-minute earnings call just hours later), replaced by a trio of executives in Chris McCarthy, George Cheeks, and Brian Robbins. Paramount is also inching closer and closer to a merger with Skydance Media, which Bakish had reportedly privately dissented against.
Paramount, Sony, and Apollo have not yet commented publicly on acquisition reports.
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Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
