ViacomCBS To Beef-Up Streaming Investment

ViacomCBS is looking to beef up its streaming investment by raising $3 billion in stock offerings, The Wrap is reporting.

ViacomCBS said it intends to use the combined net proceeds from the offerings for general corporate purposes, including investments in streaming. ViacomCBS launched Paramount+, a reconstituted version of CBS All Access, on March 4.

The company is taking to market $2 billion in Class B common stock and $1 billion in Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock. ViacomCBS’ stock price has skyrocketed in recent months with its stock rising by 174% since the start of 2021, from $36.60 a share to more than $100 a share as of Monday.

Paramount+ has a lot of catching up to do, being among the first legacy media-backed streaming services in the space (CBS All Access first debuted in 2014). According to ViacomCBS’ most recent update, the company has a little more than 19 million subscribers across its two streaming services — there is also a streaming-only version of pay-cable network Showtime. AT&T ended 2020 with about 61 million combined HBO and HBO Max subs, while Disney+ has already surpassed 100 million global subs.

Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan are acting as joint book-running managers for the offerings. Each have 30-day options to purchase up to an additional $300 million of Class B common stock and up to an additional $150 million of Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock.