Apollo Global Management’s $11 billion bid to buy Paramount Global’s film and television assets on Wednesday is the most serious offer yet for the struggling entertainment conglomerate and has likely ignited a bidding war with David Ellison’s Skydance Media and any other possible suitors for the legendary Hollywood brand.
The key now will be whether New York-based Apollo, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, is offering Paramount majority owner Shari Redstone enough to persuade her to sell off the film studio her family owns. The pressure shifts to Skydance, producer of “Mission: Impossible,” “Transformers” and other Hollywood tentpoles, and financial partner RedBird Capital, to finish due diligence and get a deal done on their own offer made in January for an undisclosed amount.