Potential Acquisition Could Reshape Entertainment Landscape
There are reports that Sony Group Corporation is considering purchasing Paramount Global which would include the iconic Paramount Pictures lot in Los Angeles, as reported by Bloomberg News. This could happen if Sony’s bid to acquire the studio’s parent company proves successful, according to Bloomberg’s sources.
Sony, the huge electronics company and entertainment conglomerate from Japan, already owns the Sony Lot in Culver City. Paramount’s IP-rich status as a studio is what is attracting Sony as a buyer according to an anonymous source.
Apollo Global Management Inc., owner of CBS, MTV, and Nickelodeon, would be Sony’s partner in this sale. A sale would not mean the end of Paramount, as the buyers reportedly wish to add Paramount Pictures as an entity within Sony, but have plans to sell the fabled Paramount lot, its streaming services, and television assets, according to the New York Times. Sony and Apollo have not responded to inquiries for comment.
However, that is not the only potential interested buyer of Paramount Global. David Ellison, of Skydance Media, was in talks, which have recently expired, to purchase the majority of the stock held by the Redstone family and merge Paramount Global with his company. It is not yet clear if Ellison will continue to pursue the purchase of the studio.
