Looks like BET is staying put with Paramount Global! The company has withdrawn it’s offer to sell its majority stake in BET media group.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the corporation declared on Wednesday its decision to halt the bidding procedure for the division encompassing VH1 and BET Studios, the streaming service BET+, and the BET channel.
Paramount Global had received offers spanning from around $2 billion to $3 billion.
According to the NY Post BET’s owner Paramount Global said:
“We made this decision because the benefits of maintaining a majority stake in BET Media Group creates more value for Paramount than any of the proposals we received,” a source close to Paramount told The Post.
The source noted that Paramount had been looking for a deal “which could return the asset to Black ownership” with a “party that could be a good partner and responsible steward of the assets and the mission” — but nevertheless came up short.
Paramount also had hoped for a deal that would “result in meaningful de-leveraging” of Paramount’s balance sheet,” according to the source.
While bids fell short, there are still “significant synergies between BET and the rest of Paramount” in distribution to local TV affiliates, advertising and streaming, according to the source.
Byron Allen
Sources said Byron Allen, the comedian-turned-media mogul who has amassed a broadcasting empire that includes the Weather Channel, emerged late in the auction as the top bidder with an offer worth roughly $3 billion.
Nevertheless, Paramount did not engage Allen in high-level talks after he made his bid last month, a source close to the situation told The Post.
“Paramount did not want to sell BET to Byron Allen,” a source at the company said, pointing to Allen’s lack of committed financing.
Tyler Perry
Instead, over the last few weeks, the company had been pushing Perry, who already owns a 25% stake in BET’s streaming service, BET+, to increase his offer.
He offered them 2 Billion, they wanted 3.
Sean Diddy Combs
Variety exclusively reported in March that Sean “Diddy” Combs was among the bidders who expressed interested in the majority stake, joining fellow media moguls Tyler Perry and Byron Allen in pursuing the acquisition of the network.
Combs has previously worked with Paramount Global, producing three iterations of MTV’s “Making the Band” between 2002 and 2009.
The rapper, record producer and executive is already the owner of network Revolt, which reaches roughly 80 millions households.
Back in March, a source close to Combs told Variety that Combs is “exploring the opportunity to purchase BET as a part of his strategy to build a Black-owned global media powerhouse,” which he believes is “better for the business, for the culture and for building wealth in the Black community.”
Twitter reaction
Paramount Global that owns BET announced that they are no longer interested in selling a majority stake in BET after a bidding war of Black Billionaires to make BET black owned again. “Many are speculating that it was a publicity stunt get black people back watching BET” pic.twitter.com/C83sFfAE9f
— Black Millionaires ® (@Blackmillions_) August 17, 2023
and
Paramount turned down Tyler Perry’s 2 billion dollar offer to buy BET pic.twitter.com/evaY86Ov1j
— No Jumper (@nojumper) August 17, 2023
and
Viacom:
– closed MTVNews,
– sold CNET,
– their CBS HQ in NYC,
– CBS Studio City,
– and publisher Simon & Schuster,
yet they won’t sell BET because they know the value would skyrocket if Tyler, Shaw or Diddy owned it. https://t.co/dojJma6ugL— Darren (@DarrenNesbitt) August 17, 2023
This is why supporting BLACK OWNED media is so important.
Paramount playing games!
Comment below!
