Paramount in Talks to Sell BET Network

Paramount Global is in talks to sell its Black Entertainment Television network to a management-led investor group, according Bloomberg citing people with knowledge of the discussions.

The potential buyers include BET Chief Executive Officer Scott Mills and Chinh Chu, a former Blackstone Inc. executive who runs New York-based CC Capital Partners, said the people who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. A price of a little under $2 billion has been discussed, the people said.

Chu has created a number of special purpose acquisition companies to acquire businesses. Last year, he merged one with the photo archive Getty Images Holdings Inc. A spokesperson for CC Capital declined to comment.

Paramount, the parent of CBS, MTV and other channels, shopped the network earlier this year, along with the related channel VH1. The company dropped the sale process after failing to get bids it was satisfied with.

Byron Allen

BET, founded in 1980, has close ties with some of the most successful African Americans in entertainment. Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones are investors in BET Studios, while Tyler Perry holds a stake in the BET+ streaming service.

Media mogul Byron Allen, who has also been pursuing the network, has said it should be Black-owned.

Allen sent an email on Tuesday to Paramount’s management and board, reiterating an offer of $3.5 billion for both BET and VH1, another Paramount channel, according to a copy of the message reviewed by Bloomberg.

“You are pursuing an inside sale at a below-market price with management that will not yield the highest price for the stockholders,” Allen wrote. “We believe it would be an egregious breach of fiduciary duty by the Paramount Global management team and board of directors if BET is sold for anything less than the highest price, particularly, in order to provide a sweetheart deal to an insider at the expense of public shareholders.”