Byron Allen is moving forward on his journey to purchase Paramount Global.
The reported move comes less than a year after he was immersed in a bidding contest with Tyler Perry and other prospective buyers to snag BET, one of the channels Paramount Global owns through the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. Perry reportedly was the standout to move forward with the deal, but the company ultimately decided to drop negotiations. Now, it looks like Allen is setting his sights on a bigger piece of the pie this time around.
The comic-turned media mogul has reportedly made a $14.3 billion offer to buy all outstanding shares Paramount Global, according to a statement from Allen’s team as reported by The Holly Reporter.
According to the outlet, the deal terms includes the Allen Media Group absorbing Paramount’s multi-billion-dollar debt.
“Mr. Byron Allen did submit a bid on behalf of Allen Media Group and its strategic partners to purchase all of Paramount Global’s outstanding shares,” the statement said as reported by the outlet. “We believe this $30 billion offer, which includes debt and equity, is the best solution for all of the Paramount Global shareholders, and the bid should be taken seriously and pursued.”
The new bid is likely a part of Allen’s larger goal to aggressively expand his media empire.
“We plan to buy more [local TV stations], we really like that,” Allen said according to the Hollywood Reporter in the spring of 2023. “We’re going to buy more cable networks. We’re very acquisitive. We’re going to buy whatever we can that makes sense. I will say we are truly aggressive when it comes to acquisitions. If it’s for sale — if it’s a lemonade stand — we want to buy it. It has to have a video monitor, it just can’t be lemonade, it has to have a video monitor so we can program that.”
