New Paramount Bidder Apex Capital Trust Enters Fray With All-Cash Offer

With three weeks remaining in the “go-shop” period of Paramount Global‘s proposed merger with Skydance, it has emerged that a new suitor has joined the fray.

Apex Capital Trust, a conglomerate of financial institutions and financial services providers, said it submitted a competing offer to purchase Paramount Global shares after the market closed on July 12. That was less than a week after the two-step Skydance-Paramount deal was announced, in which Skydance and its backers would acquire Paramount controlling shareholder National Amusements before a full merger with Paramount. Skydance and its backers, including RedBird Capital and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, were understood to be putting $8 billion into the deal.

Apex said its all-cash offer includes a total commitment of up to $43 billion.

“We are confident in the expertise of the investment firm and their willingness to move expeditiously and efficiently to evaluate this offer and submit it to the Special Committee of the Board of Paramount as a proposal that is substantially superior to the Skydance deal,” said Tatiana Logan, General Counsel for Apex Trust. “Paramount and its assets are a national treasure, and we intend to treat them accordingly. Paramount’s global future is bright, but it requires resources, which we have and are enthusiastic to deploy, making it a win-win situation for all of Paramount’s stakeholders.”

istrators, credit card processing centers, cryptocurrency issuer, blockchain technology and digital asset management company, financial literacy program provider, identity theft protection company, and actively producing gold mines in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Apex Trust has been expanding its investments in the high-tech industry by developing its proprietary technology and investing in other tech companies. Apex’s proprietary biometric technology is utilized on credit, debit, or other identification cards to significantly reduce or eliminate identity theft or other credit/debit card fraud. Apex has also developed proprietary technology for phone-to-phone sharing of battery charge and remote phone recharging. In a related investment, Apex Trust has acquired 40% ownership of Simmtronics, a multinational technology company manufacturing phones and other electronic devices, ranked #3 worldwide in tablet PCs, after Apple and Samsung. Apex intends to continue increasing its investments in the telecommunications and media sectors.

No response yet from Shari Redstone’s National Amusements, Paramount or Skydance. This post will be updated if any of them weighs in. On Tuesday, Deadline reported that Edgar Bronfman Jr. was continuing to consider a bid for NAI as a possible prelude to a stake in Paramount.