(Bloomberg) — Movie producer David Ellison's offer to Paramount Global includes an option for nonvoting shareholders to cash out a portion of their shares for about $15 a share, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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The offer, a roughly 26% premium to Friday's closing price, is for some shares only, according to the person, who asked to remain anonymous because the discussions are not public.
Spokespeople for Ellison's Paramount and Skydance Media declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal reported the offer earlier on Sunday.
The cash payment is the latest attempt by Ellison to soften the terms of a deal that has faced opposition from some investors. Larry Ellison, the son of Oracle Corp. co-founder, is looking to take over the movie and TV giant through a multi-step process that includes buying out the Redstone family's controlling stake and then merging his company into Paramount.
The third part of the deal involves Ellison and his partners investing billions of dollars in the company, either through a stock offering or paying down debt. Its backers include RedBird Capital Partners and KKR & Co. Skydance has agreed to put at least $1.5 billion in debt repayment on Paramount's balance sheet as part of an enhanced bid, the New York Times reported, citing anonymous sources.
A special committee of Paramount board members recommended Ellison's final terms last week. Now the decision is largely in the hands of Shari Redstone, Paramount's president and the matriarch of the family, which owns about 77% of the voting shares.
Paramount's annual meeting is Tuesday.
Ellison's talks with Paramount began last year. The 41-year-old producer of films such as Top Gun: Maverick was forced to increase his offer as investors including Mario Gabelli and John Rogers of Ariel Investment expressed concern that the Redstones were being bought at a premium and other investors faced dilution.
Apollo Global Management Inc. A non-binding offer for Paramount to partner with Sony Group Corp.
Read more: Shari Redstone has three options for Paramount
(Updates with proposed debt repayment report in fifth paragraph. A version of an earlier story corrected the composition of the special committee.)
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