Paramount Global/Skydance merger - Variety: Sony Officially Says It Won’t Bid for Paramount Global to Counter Skydance Deal

Story from Variety:

Sony is not interested in making a new offer for Paramount Global that would challenge Paramount’s deal to merge with Skydance Media, a top exec for the Japanese conglomerate said.

On its quarterly earnings call Wednesday, Sony Group president, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki was asked whether the company would mount a new bid for Paramount. He replied that an acquisition of Paramount “does not fit well with our strategy.”

“If we have to acquire the whole of Paramount, it would be quite risky because it may not be well fitted to our capital allocation structure,” Totoki told analysts.

In May, Sony 2024 Pictures Entertainment and private-equity firm Apollo Global sent a nonbinding offer to Paramount Global’s board offering to take Paramount private for $26 billion in cash, a price tag that would include the assumption of debt. But within days, reports emerged that Sony was cooling on the prospect of buying Paramount. Totoki’s comments confirmed a report Tuesday by Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei that Sony had opted to not make a new bid for Paramount.

Then on July 7 — after months of on-again, off-again negotiations — Paramount Global and David Ellison’s Skydance media and production company announced a two-part transaction that will result in Skydance buying out Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc. and then merging with Paramount, whose properties include CBS, Paramount Pictures, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks. Under a “go-shop” provision, Paramount Global has the right to solicit a better offer in a 45-day window, which expires 11:59 p.m. ET on Aug. 21. If Paramount opts to go with a rival bid, the company would be obligated to pay a $400 million breakup fee to the Skydance investor group.

Sony, for the quarter ended June 30, 2024 (its Q1 of fiscal 2024), reported a 10% increase in operating profit to ¥279.1 billion ($1.9 billion), beating Wall Street expectations. Total revenue increased 2% to ¥3.01 trillion ($20.5 billion). The company raised FY24 estimates to ¥12.6 trillion in revenue and ¥1.3 trillion in operating profit.

For the June quarter, Sony Pictures Entertainment revenue was ¥337.3 billion ($2.3 billion), up 5% in yen but down 7% on a U.S. currency basis, while operating income fell 29% to ¥11.3 billion ($76 million, down 36% on a U.S. currency basis). In addition, Sony announced that anime streamer Crunchyroll has topped 15 million monthly subscribers.

Sony Music revenue came in at ¥442.0 billion ($3.0 billion), up 23% in yen, and operating profit was ¥85.9 billion ($580 million), up 17%. In the gaming business, the company sold 2.4 million PlayStation 5 units in the June quarter, less than analysts expected and down from the 3.3 million PS5 units in the year-ago period.