Is The Allen Offer A Real Deal?

Byron Allen, the media mogul offering $14 billion for Paramount Global, told CNBC on Wednesday that he has the money to finance a deal, despite skepticism around his deal-making.

“This deal lives or dies at the [Federal Communications Commission],” he added.

Allen, the founder and CEO of a media group that owns dozens of television networks across the U.S., offered $30 billion for all of Paramount’s outstanding shares, including debt and equity.

The Allen Media Group said in a statement the offer “is the best solution for all of the Paramount Global shareholders, and the bid should be taken seriously and pursued.”

Allen has a long history of making offers on major media assets. But bidding doesn’t mean buying. His bid for Paramount is the most ambitious of the deals the media mogul has tried to complete. 

Here are some of his recent deal attempts:

• In December, Allen renewed an attempt to buy Paramount-owned Black Entertainment Television and VH1 for a combined $3.5 billion.
• In November, Bloomberg reported, he was weighing a bid to buy television stations from E.W. Scripps.
• In September, Allen made an offer to buy ABC and several other networks from Disney
•  for $10 billion after Disney CEO Bob Iger opened the door to selling the company’s linear TV assets.
• In 2022, he explored a bid to buy the National Football League’s Washington Commanders.
• In March 2020, he offered $8.5 billion to buy television stations owner Tegna

The Babe

Allen told CNBC Wednesday that he lost out on several deals because ownership changed course on wanting to sell. He highlighted his acquisition of The Weather Channel in 2018 for a reported $300 million and broadly defended his track record, invoking baseball Hall of Famer Babe Ruth.

“Let’s talk about Babe Ruth. Does he go down as one of the greatest baseball players of all time? And he struck out half the time,” Allen said. In actuality, Ruth struck out 1,300 times in 8,399 at bats — a 15% strikeout rate.

Allen’s bids for linear TV assets come as the media landscape shifts away from traditional TV toward streaming. Almost all the major media companies have launched services to compete with streaming giant Netflix

Allen told CNBC he wants to buy Paramount for its linear networks, what he says is the most challenging part of the company.