Apollo offers $11B to buy Paramount studio lot in Hollywood

Apollo Global Management is waving an $11 billion check in front of Paramount Global’s film and TV studios in Hollywood.

The New York-based private equity firm led by Marc Rowan has offered to buy the century-old Paramount Pictures Studios at 5555 Melrose Avenue, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified sources.

The $11 billion bid comes as an independent committee of directors of the Hollywood-based company controlled by Shari Redstone is reviewing another offer from Skydance Media, based in Santa Monica, to merge with Paramount.

Paramount Global also owns CBS, Nickelodeon and other cable networks.

The 65-acre Paramount studio lot, opened by Adolph Zukor in 1926, has been in the crosshairs of Netflix and other firms as an acquisition target. The studio, known for its entrance gate and New York street backlot, has 30 soundstages that have produced movies from “Wings,” winner of the first Academy Award for Best Picture, to “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Redstone and other Paramount board members, however, have resisted selling the studio facility, which they consider the crown jewel of the company. She is open to selling Paramount in its entirety, but would have to agree to break up the company and allow a studio sale.

Apollo could join with other companies to finance a deal, according to the WSJ. The firm’s offer is more than the market capitalization of Paramount Global, now around $7.7 billion.

The studio business may be attractive, with its vast library and demand for fresh programming in the streaming industry. But Paramount’s TV networks are declining as the cable business shrinks.

Skydance Media, run by David Ellison, has made an undisclosed offer to buy Paramount parent National Amusements, and merge Skydance into Paramount. Redstone controls National Amusements, which owns almost 80 percent of the voting shares of Paramount.

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Months have transpired since news of the Skydance offer broke late last year.

Paramount has also had talks with Warner Bros. Discovery about a merger, and has discussed a streaming partnership or joint venture with Comcast, the WSJ reported last month.

Shari Redstone, the daughter of the late media mogul Sumner Redstone, reunited the family’s media empire by merging Viacom and CBS in 2019. She later renamed the company Paramount Global.

— Dana Bartholomew