Edgar Bronfman Jr. withdraws offer for Paramount, allowing Skydance merger to go ahead

NEW YORK (AP) — The merger between entertainment giant Paramount and media company Skydance is set to go ahead after Edgar Bronfman Jr. withdrew a competing offer. Bronfman is executive chairman of streaming service Fubo. He told Paramount’s special committee of directors that he would not proceed with his bid. Bronfman is also the former chairman and CEO of Warner Music. He had intitially offered $4.3 billion for Shari Redstone’s National Amusements, the controlling shareholder of Paramount. He then upped that bid to $6 billion. Paramount agreed last month to a merger deal with Skydance that will inject desperately needed cash into a legacy studio that has struggled to adapt to a shifting entertainment landscape.