Paramount Board’s Special Committee Says It Is “Bound” By Merger Pact With Skydance; “There Will Not Be Any Engagement” With Rival Bidders

deadline.com:

A special committee of Paramount Global‘s board of directors says it is “bound” by a pending agreement to merge with Skydance Media and will not consider an 11th-hour offer from a rival bidder.

In a statement provided to Deadline, a spokesperson for the committee formed last year to evaluate opportunities and steer a merger, said investment group Project Rise Partners effectively arrived too late to the party. “The transaction agreement between Paramount and Skydance Media enabled the Special Committee to pursue a superior proposal during the now-expired 45-day go-shop period, during which representatives of the Special Committee contacted more than 50 third parties to determine whether they had an interest in making a proposal to acquire Paramount,” the statement said. “Project Rise Partners did not make a proposal during such period, nor during the prior seven-month sale process for Paramount.

It is unclear what PRP’s objectives are; however, Paramount is bound by its agreement with Skydance Media and there will not be any engagement with PRP in contravention of such agreement.” The Paramount-Skydance deal was set last July after a months-long saga, with numerous parties looking into throwing their hat into the ring for the century-old Hollywood mainstay.

Barry Diller, Sony Pictures Entertainment, private equity giant Apollo and a group of investors led by Seagram heir Edgar Bronfman Jr.