Edgar Bronfman drops his $6 billion Paramount bid

Edgar Bronfman Jr. just walked away from his last-minute bid to own Paramount, setting the media giant back on track to be sold to Skydance Media.

Bronfman, the former CEO of Warner Music Group, said in a statement that his team informed Paramount on Monday evening that it would be exit the bidding process.

“While there may have been differences, we believe that everyone involved in the sale process is united in the belief that Paramount’s best days are ahead,” Bronfman said in a statement. “We congratulate the Skydance team and thank the special committee and the Redstone family for their engagement during the go-shop process.”

Bronfman made an eleventh-hour offer last week to own National Amusements, which holds the controlling stake in Paramount, and a minority stake in Paramount. Bronfman submitted a $6 billion proposal to challenge an offer of more than $8 billion from David Ellison’s Skydance Media.

The bid came just before the 45-day “go-shop” period expired — a window that allowed Paramount to explore other offers even after announcing its merger with Skydance.

Bronfman’s bid made Paramount extend the go-shop period until September 5. Under the terms of the deal with Skydance, the special committee had to decide if the Bronfman bid “is or would reasonably be expected to lead to a superior proposal,” relative to Skydance’s offer.

Skydance fought Bronfman’s bid. Lawyers delivered a letter to the committee last week directing Paramount to end talks with Bronfman, saying Paramount was breaching the terms of the deal by engaging other bidders.

The announcement may finally wrap up the long and confusing Hollywood mega-merger with two personalities at the center: Shari Redstone, who owns the controlling stake in Paramount via National Amusements, and David Ellison, the billionaire CEO of Skydance.