Edgar Bronfman Withdraws Paramount Bid

Edgar Bronfman has withdrawn his bid to buy Paramount, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Monday evening.

“Tonight, our bidding group informed the special committee that we will be exiting the go-shop process. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to participate,” Bronfman said in a statement to THR. “We continue to believe that Paramount Global is an extraordinary company, with an unrivaled collection of marquee brands, assets and people. While there may have been differences, we believe that everyone involved in the sale process is united in the belief that Paramount’s best days are ahead. We congratulate the Skydance team and thank the special committee and the Redstone family for their engagement during the go-shop process.”

Bronfman initially submitted a roughly $4.3 billion bid last week, which included $2.4 billion in debt and equity for National Amusements. Bronfman would also have contributed $1.5 billion to Paramount’s balance sheet. A few days later, he raised the number to $6 billion.

Paramount’s 45-day “go-shop” window was initially set to end Aug. 21 and then extended to Sept. 5.

On July 7, Skydance and Paramount said that they had agreed to a merger proposal that would include the David Ellison family and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital Partners investing $2.4 billion to buy Sheri Redstone’s holding company National Amusements. The bid would value a merged Skydance-Paramount at $28 billion if the deal closes.

More to come.