With three weeks remaining in the go-shop period of Paramount Global’s proposed merger with Skydance, it has emerged that a new suitor has joined the fray.
Apex Capital Trust, a conglomerate of financial institutions and financial services companies, said it had submitted a competing offer to buy Paramount Global shares after the market closed on July 12. That was less than a week after the two-step Skydance-Paramount deal was announced. , in which Skydance and its backers would acquire Paramount’s controlling shareholder National Amusements before a full merger with Paramount. It was believed that Skydance and its backers, including RedBird Capital and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, put $8 billion into the deal.
Apex said its all-cash offer includes a total commitment of up to $43 billion.
“We are confident in the expertise of the investment firm and their willingness to take swift and efficient action to evaluate this offer and submit it to the Special Committee of the Paramount Board as a proposal that is substantially superior to the Skydance deal,” said Tatiana. Logan, general counsel of Apex Trust. “Paramount and its assets are a national treasure, and we intend to treat them accordingly. Paramount’s global future looks bright, but it will require resources, which we have and are eager to deploy, making it a win-win for all Paramount stakeholders.”
istrators, credit card processing centers, cryptocurrency issuer, blockchain technology and digital asset management company, financial literacy program provider, identity theft protection company, and actively producing gold mines in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
Apex Trust has expanded its investments in the high-tech industry by developing its own technology and investing in other technology companies. Apex’s patented biometric technology is used on credit cards, debit cards or other identification cards to significantly reduce or eliminate identity theft or other credit/debit card fraud. Apex has also developed proprietary technology for phone-to-phone battery charge sharing and remote phone charging. In a related investment, Apex Trust has acquired a 40% stake in Simmtronics, a multinational technology company that produces phones and other electronic devices and ranks third globally in tablet PCs, behind Apple and Samsung. Apex plans to continue increasing its investments in the telecommunications and media sectors.
No response yet from Shari Redstone’s National Amusements, Paramount or Skydance. This post will be updated if any of them are of interest. On Tuesday, Deadline reported that Edgar Bronfman Jr. continued to consider a bid for NAI as a possible prelude to a stake in Paramount.
