(Reuters) – Apex Capital Trust has made a competing bid to acquire Paramount Global in an all-cash deal for up to $43 billion, the investment firm said on Wednesday.
Paramount has a 45-day “go-shop” period following its merger agreement with David Ellison’s Skydance Media, during which it can strike another deal.
Paramount and National Amusements did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Apex, a holding company and investor in the financial sector, said it has offered to buy all of the shares in National Amusements, a company that has a controlling interest in Paramount. It has offered $35 per share for the Class A voting shares, which the company said represents a 33% premium over the stock’s 52-week high.
The competing bidder is also offering $23.28 per share for Paramount’s non-voting Class B shares, representing a 33% premium.
Apex said it would assume Paramount’s $15.8 billion in debt and pay Skydance the $400 million break-up free. It said it would provide the media company with $10 billion in working capital to execute its business plan.
“Paramount and its assets are a national asset and we intend to treat them as such,” Tatiana Logan, general counsel of Apex Trust, said in a statement.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bangalore and Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Chizu Nomiyama)
