Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish touted more of Showtime’s Billions drama in the pipeline, but doesn’t seem impressed with a recent $3 billion bid for his Showtime division.
“There’s been so much comment about the Showtime thing. Yeah, we got an unsolicited offer for Showtime. We looked at it. And the reality is it wasn’t that interesting to us. Because, if you compare that price — and it’s been rumored in the press, I’m not going to repeat it — to our internal business plan, the reality is it has far more value creating when you take the base earnings and the synergies and by the way how it affects the streaming path to profitability,” Bakish told the Morgan Stanley TMT Investors Conference during an appearance that was webcast.
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“It just didn’t make sense to divest the asset at anywhere near that price. It’s a high bar, but we look at everything,” Bakish added as he responded to a Wall Street Journal report about a $3 billion bid from former Paramount Global exec David Nevins.
In January, the company announced plans to merge its Paramount+ and Showtime businesses.
Bakish was also asked about Paramount exploring a potential sale of a majority stake in its BET Media Group business, which includes BET, VH1 and the BET+ streaming service.
“We’re always looking for ways to unlock value. And, you know, we’re stewards of shareholder value. If we see something accretive, based on a strategic thesis, based on a commercial thesis, based on a financial thesis, we’re going to look at it,” he said, without talking directly about early stage talks on a possible BET majority stake sale.
It’s understood that Tyler Perry, a longtime partner of BET, is engaged in conversations to buy the stake. Another potential suitor is Byron Allen, who controls a number of local TV stations as well as The Weather Channel and other assets via his Entertainment Studios firm.
If a deal for BET closes, Paramount is expected to maintain a minority stake in the business, as well as a commercial relationship.
