Paramount Global has opened acquisition negotiations with Sony and Apollo, The New York Times reported Sunday, after exclusive merger talks with Skydance lapsed Friday and the company continues to struggle following major first quarter losses and the departure of CEO Bob Bakish last week.
A woman's silhouette holds a smartphone with the Paramount Global logo in the background.
Sony and Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm, reportedly made a $26 billion all-cash offer to buy Paramount last week while the company was in talks to potentially merge with David Ellison's Skydance Media.
Skydance and Paramount parent company National Amusements were unable to reach an agreement last week after a month of negotiations, opening Paramount up to explore other options when talks lapsed Friday.
On Saturday, Paramount's special committee voted to start talks with Sony and Apollo, and continue negotiating with Skydance, the Times reported, citing three unnamed sources.
The Sony deal is likely the only other sale the company will consider apart from Skydance’s, Variety reported Friday, adding that it is likely no deal to merge or sell Paramount will ever come to fruition because of the threat of legal action from shareholders.
Warner Bros. Discovery also made a merger bid for Paramount earlier this year but backed out of talks in February.
This is a developing story and will be updated.