Byron Allen’s $30B Bid To Buy Paramount Global Sends Stock Skyrocketing

Investors jumped on Paramount Global’s stock amid news of Byron Allen emerging as an unexpected bidder to purchase Paramount Global.

Variety reported shares of Paramount Global rose more than 13% in early trading Wednesday on the heels of the Allen Media Group’s unsolicited $30 billion acquisition offer to acquire the entertainment giant.

The stock was trading at over $15 a share. However, it was still well below its 52-week high of $25.93 a share. The Allen Media Group’s $30 billion offer would assume Paramount’s debt, and the group said in a statement that they have several unnamed “strategic partners” to fund the purchase.

If the Allen Media Group is successful, it plans to sell off Paramount Pictures, Paramount Global’s real estate assets, and some of its intellectual property, while retaining the company’s TV networks and Paramount+ streaming service and operating those “on a more cost-efficient basis,” according to the Bloomberg news.

Byron Allen has been trying to acquire a TV network for some time. Last year alone, Allen made a $3.5 billion bid to purchase BET and VH1 and a $10 billion bid to acquire ABC Networks. He also considered purchasing several television stations from E.W. Scripps.

Paramount Global’s TV business includes CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, and BET. However, Paramount has suffered from a decline in advertising and viewership, and its streaming division is still in the red. As of September, it reported $15.6 billion in long-term debt, and Paramount Global has been rumored to be looking at mass layoffs in early 2024.

The Allen Media Group owns 36 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations in 21 U.S. markets, and twelve 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 220 million subscribers, including the Weather Channel and Pets.TV, Comedy.TV, Recipe.TV, Cars.TV, ES.TV, MyDestination.TV, JusticeCentral.TV, and TheGrio.TV. The Allen Media Group also owns The Grio, HBCUGO, and LOCAL NOW.