Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) shares moved higher following reports a Sony and private equity firm Apollo Global have made a $26 billion cash offer to acquire the entertainment company.
This comes as Paramount’s exclusive merger talks with producer David Ellison’s Skydance Media to takeover the company expired on Friday.
According to media reports, Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra and Apollo partner Aaron Sobel submitted the offer detailing the all-cash bid to Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) on Wednesday.
Sony would become Paramount’s majority shareholder and would run its operations and Apollo would have a minority stake, which is reportedly nonbinding and a starting point for negotiations.
Paramount will conduct simultaneous negotiations with Sony-Apollo and Skydance, the reports said.
Sony and Apollo’s takeover offer would reportedly include the assumption of Paramount’s debt.
After surging as much as 13%, Paramount shares traded 2.5% higher at about $13 at noon on Monday.
The entertainment company has struggled amid the transition to streaming media.
It has also been plagued by internal conflicts, with CEO Bob Bakish ousted last week amid reports he had come up against controlling shareholder Shari Redstone over her plans to sell the company.