Sony is reportedly in talks to join a joint bid with investment firm Apollo Global Management to acquire Paramount, according to an article from the New York Times today.
Per the report, Sony and Apollo Global Management have not yet submitted an official bid, but Sony chief executive Tony Vinciquerra held conversations with the investment firm last week. The terms of the possible bid are still apparently being worked out, but it would essentially offer cash for shares of Paramount, "in effect taking the company private through a joint venture."
The report adds that, if a bid and subsequent acquisition goes through, Sony would likely absorb Paramount's operations and brand it as a label of its own media empire. In addition to Paramount Pictures, the Paramount umbrella includes networks like Nickelodeon, Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central and - perhaps most notably - CBS, as well as Paramount+. In that, Paramount boasts IP like Spongebob Squarepants, Top Gun, Yellowstone, and the Sonic the Hedgehog films.
As Bloomberg, which also reported the news, points out, Sony is the only major entertainment studio without a general streaming service. With that in mind, it's easy to see why Paramount and its vast array of linear TV channels might be appealing for the company.
Today's report comes not long after National Amusements, Paramount's controlling company, signed off on a deal that would merge Paramount with Skydance Media, the production company behind movies like Top Gun: Maverick, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
Late last year, reports emerged that Warner Bros. executives had also met with Paramount Pictures to talk about the possibility of a merger. We haven't, however, heard more about those talks since then.
Paramount shares shot up 12% in the wake of the news in after-hours trading today.
Thumbnail credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
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.
