Who is Edgar Bronfman Jr.?
Who would take his unconventional coalition of investors seriously, especially when an Who would take his unconventional coalition of investors seriously, especially when an $8 billion deal with Skydance was on the table?
Later in the week, the answer came emphatically: Paramount.
The bid has transformed Paramount’s sale into a battle of family dynasties. Skydance founder David Ellison is the son-in- But the deal is now threatened by the bid from Bronfman — a grandson of the Seagram mogul Samuel Bronfman — whose early foray steering the family business into media several decades ago has left a cloud over his career.
Bronfman, no stranger to doubters, somehow corralled billions in commitments for the bid, refined his list of investors and persuaded a special committee of Paramount’s board of directors to extend the “go shop” window in the company’s agreement with Skydance in order to consider it.
The son of one billionaire is now pitted against the son of another.
“He’s been craving a media empire since the 1980s, and Paramount is a great studio with a lot of upside potential,” Terry Kawaja, the founder of Luma Partners, a boutique bank, said of Bronfman.
“If you’re the billionaire son of a billionaire, it’s the ultimate asset.”
Across Wall Street and Hollywood, Bronfman is a polarizing figure.
Depending on whom you ask, he’s either the hapless heir who steered Seagrams into a catastrophic merger with Vivendi in 2000 or the misunderstood mogul who fought his way back from a bad deal to prove his mettle with success at Warner Music Group.Bronfman’s resume is further complicated by a conviction for insider trading in 2011 under French law, which resulted in a $6.8 million fine and a 15-month suspended sentence. At the time of his conviction, he said his trades were aboveboard.
Bronfman has been working on a Paramount bid since March,
according to four people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the negotiations are confidential. After Paramount allowed its exclusive period for negotiations with Skydance to lapse this spring, Bronfman pitched Paramount’s board and lined up a potential financier, Bain Capital, which began to vet the investment.But talks with Paramount were slow, and the company signed a deal with Skydance in July before Bain Capital could complete its due diligence, the people said. Bronfman sought out other investors in a last minute This coalition included some surprising media investors at first, such as Brock One of the people said that Bronfman had since refined John Martin, who was introduced to Bronfman through the Three people familiar with the meetings have confirmed that Bronfman Cheeks, Robbins and McCarthy serve as Paramount’s co-C.E.O.s.
Bronfman’s bid faces steep odds.
Aside from Skydance’s deep pockets, skeptics of his bid point to Bronfman’s large consortium of investors, which may not be feasible for Paramount’s special committee to vet before the “go shop” period expires in early September. If Paramount goes with another suitor, the company is on the hook for a $400 million breakup fee with Skydance, raising the cost of exploring alternatives.
And if any of Bronfman’s crucial investors drop out — or come up short — they could imperil the bid.
One of Bronfman’s most reputable backers, Fortress Investment Group, is partly owned by Mubadala Investment Company, a sovereign wealth fund controlled by the United Arab Emirates. Fortress’s involvement in Bronfman’s deal Fortress and BC Partners Credit are the two largest institutional investors in And Fortress, which is based in the United States, is controlled by a board of directors appointed by its partners, which could assure regulators scrutinizing the deal.Skydance has been working behind the scenes to raise concerns about Bronfman’s bid. The studio sent a letter this week to Paramount’s The committee has proceeded with negotiations anyway, a person familiar with the matter said.
Bronfman’s pitch.
He argues that his deal is better for Paramount’s nonvoting shareholders, many of whom felt jilted by Skydance’s deal, two people familiar with the matter said. But analysts say the question of which deal is better for nonvoting shareholders may not yet have a clear-cut answer.
Ellison is offering shareholders more cash but effectively no control. Barry Diller, founder of IAC, said, “I “Yes, he’s been a friend for decades, but he’s savvy and dedicated and decent as well as an accomplished manager — it will be in good hands if he gets it.”
Could he actually turn Paramount around?
Bronfman sees similarities between the challenges facing Paramount and those facing Warner Music Group, which he led an investor group to acquire for roughly $2.6 billion in 2003, three people familiar with his thinking said.Bronfman reshaped Warner Music Group for the digital age, and under his leadership, Atlantic Records, one of its units, became the first major record label to generate more than half its sales from digital products. Bronfman sold Warner Music Group eight years after he He has served as executive chairman at Fubo since 2020.
Ultimately, though, Bronfman must not only lay out a vision for Paramount but earn the trust of Redstone, its controlling shareholder, as she grapples with the prospect of relinquishing her media empire. The question is if she will give Bronfman In case you missed it, Jerome Powell said that “the In his Jackson Hole address, the Fed chairman did not specify He said he was “confident,” that the inflation threat Ford puts the brakes on its electric vehicle strategy. General Motors laid off 1,000 workers, including in a division A British software tycoon drowned when his Lynch, who was once known as Britain’s Bill Gates Other victims included Christopher Morvillo – one of Lynch Private equity may soon be allowed
For over Due to strict rules on who can buy teams and how they can At a meeting in Eagan (Minn.), Owners are expected to approve new rules that allow private equity firms The number of potential buyers has decreased as team valuations have increased Limited partners are also harder to find because they do not have voting The N.F.L. could benefit from allowing private The N.F.L. would be the last major league If the new rules are passed, only a few selected private
The N.F.L. The N.F.L. The list includes firms that specialize in sports, such as Arctos Partners, Dynasty Equity and Blackstone, as well as large firms like CVC Capital Partners, Carlyle Group and Blackstone, which recently expanded its sports portfolio with the purchase of Seattle Reign F.C., a women’s soccer club. The firms were reported earlier by Sportico.
Who’s out? Wall Street insiders find it almost as interesting which firms aren’t on the list. One of them is RedBird Capital Partners which has a license deal for N.F.L. Sunday Ticket games. The firm was in discussions to be one of those investing in league, but became conflicted due to its involvement in the proposed purchase of Paramount which carries N.F.L. A person familiar with the talks said that CBS and Paramount+ would be streaming games. The person requested anonymity because the negotiations are confidential.
What now?
If the owners approve the proposed change on Tuesday, then those who wish to sell stakes can apply to the finance committee of the league. After the committee vets the applications, approval of each application would be put to a vote by all owners, potentially as soon as the next meeting of owners in October.
Which team will make the first deal? Bankers say that owners who have a lot of money invested in the league are likely to be the most interested. Other favorite guesses include the Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula, who reportedly wants to sell a stake in his club to help pay for the new stadium he is building in Orchard Park, and the Los Angeles Chargers owner Dean Spanos, who may sell part of the team to buy out his sister Dea Spanos Berberian.
The TikTok convention
When delays pushed President Biden’s speech this week at the Democratic National Convention outside prime time, some saw it as a slight. (Convention officials blamed too much “raucous applause.”)The drama underscored the enduring value of the television audience, even as viewership shrinks and fragments.
But there were also plenty of signs that the Democrats remain focused on another type of viewer — those who scroll through videos in their social feeds.Both parties have acknowledged the power of the viral video. Both parties have acknowledged the power of viral videos. Tim Walz, Harris’s running-mate, posted a dad joke on TikTok last Friday. Both party conventions credentialed social media content creators in addition to traditional journalists, and the Democratic convention for the first time streamed vertical video to YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
Prime time is changing, too. About 20 million people watched the first night of the Democratic convention on television, according to Nielsen. The audience was the same as in 2020 when the convention was virtually held because of pandemic preparations, but it was down 22 percent compared to 2016. The Harris campaign has said it is vital to reach voters on their mobile phones, and it has earmarked $200 million out of a $370 million advertising budget for digital ads, which it believes to be the largest digital ad buy ever in American politics.
Democratic speechwriters seemed to keep the social phenomenon in mind.
Former President Barack Obama made a joke with a collapsing hand gesture while describing Trump’s obsession with crowd size. Michelle Obama’s well-timed setup ended with a punchline that referred to Trump’s comments about “Black Jobs.” Doug Emhoff told the story in detail of meeting Harris and his children nicknamed her “Momala.” “I think that it’s all very deliberate,” he said.
People consume content at their own pace, not during prime time,” said Schnure. “So, making sure that things are snackable and shared — I really believe strategically people are thinking this way. It makes these speeches unique, even if they are not necessarily new.
