By Dawn Chmielewski
(Reuters) -Skydance Media has submitted a sweetened offer for Paramount Global, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The new deal improves terms for both classes of Paramount shareholders, and provides more cash, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Specific details of the offer could not immediately be determined.
A spokesman for a special committee of the Paramount board, which was created to evaluate such offers, declined to comment.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the improved offer.
Skydance initially proposed a complex transaction, in which it would pay roughly $2 billion to acquire the Redstone family’s holding company, National Amusements, which holds 77% of Paramount’s class-A voting stock.
Paramount would then acquire Skydance in an all-stock transaction worth around $5 billion. It subsequently offered a $3 billion deal sweetener entailing a mix of share buybacks and cash that could be used to pay down debt.
A rival bidder, Sony Pictures Entertainment, in partnership with Apollo Global Management, also is interested in acquiring the U.S. media company.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; editing by Deepa Babington)
