Yahoo Finance Paramount in Talks to Sell BET Network for $1.6 Billion
(Bloomberg) -- Paramount Global is in exclusive talks to sell its Black Entertainment Television network to buyers that include BET Chief Executive Officer Scott Mills and Chinh Chu, who runs the New York-based private equity firm CC Capital.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Biden’s Fourth of July Shrouded by Pressure to Drop 2024 Bid
Kamala Harris Is Having a Surprise Resurgence as Biden’s Campaign Unravels
Newsom Shocks California Politics by Scrapping Crime Measure
China Can End Russia’s War in Ukraine With One Phone Call, Finland Says
The group has been discussing an offer of $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named revealing information that’s not public.
Last year, the same group had discussed an offer of a little under $2 billion, Bloomberg reported in December. Chu and Mills are rekindling discussions with Paramount for BET after Shari Redstone, who has a controlling stake in Paramount, walked away from a proposed merger with Skydance Media, the company led by David Ellison.
Representatives for Paramount and Chu declined to comment. Mills didn’t respond to a request for comment. The shares jumped on the news and were up 4.2% to $10.56 at 2:28 p.m. in New York.
Paramount, which owns CBS, MTV and other networks, had also previously received an offer from media mogul Byron Allen, who put together a $3.5 billion bid last year for both BET and the VH1 channel, and emphasized that BET should be Black-owned. Actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry, who is an investor in the BET+ streaming service, also held discussions about purchasing a stake in the larger enterprise.
The sale process last year was “disrespectful,” Perry said at a Bloomberg event last year. “Don’t try to get me to pay for something that’s not worth anywhere near the value” Paramount said it was, he said at the time.
Founded in 1980 by businessman Robert L. Johnson, BET was sold to Paramount’s predecessor, Viacom, in 2001 for about $3 billion. The network has strong ties to some of the most successful Black entertainment creators, including Perry, Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones, who are investors in the BET Studios production company.
Paramount has said it’s working to cut $500 million in costs to boost profitability.
--With assistance from Ryan Gould and Hannah Miller.
(Updates to add that talks are exclusive and adds share gain.)
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
Dragons and Sex Are Now a $610 Million Business Sweeping Publishing
The Fried Chicken Sandwich Wars Are More Cutthroat Than Ever Before
For Tesla, a Smaller Drop in Sales Is Something to Celebrate
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
