Paramount in talks to sell BET Network to management-led group

Paramount Global is in talks to sell its Black Entertainment Television network to a management-led investor group, according to 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. 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. Subscribe to Ad Age Sign up now for the latest industry news and analysis Click here 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.” Allen had previously lined up four banks and two private equity firms to make an offer of $3 billion for the channels plus additional content purchases and spending, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg. Paramount was to retain 19%. Actor and producer Perry, who makes a number of TV shows for the networks, was also among the interested parties earlier this year. He called the earlier sale process “disrespectful” at a Bloomberg Equality event in October and suggested the price Paramount was asking for the channels was too high. Paramount is controlled by the Redstone family. The company has been hit by twin issues of falling traditional TV viewers and advertising, and a costly expansion into streaming TV with its Paramount+ service. The company had previously sold real estate holdings and its Simon & Schuster publishing division. Shares of Paramount were down more than 6% this year through Tuesday’s close and had fallen in each of the previous three years. The Redstone family has held talks about a sale of their interest in Paramount to film producer David Ellison and RedBird Capital Partners. Founded by businessman Robert L. Johnson, BET was sold to Paramount’s predecessor Viacom in 2001 for total consideration of about $3 billion. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here —Bloomberg News

Paramount in talks to sell BET Network to management-led group

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