LOS ANGELES, March 14, 2025 -- Project Rise Partners (PRP), an entity formed for the purpose of acquiring Paramount Global, releases the following statement in response to the recent attacks by Skydance Media, following PRP's initial response before the Chancery Court of Delaware yesterday:
PRP is real, has real money backing up its $13.5 billion offer to acquire Paramount, and has real expertise.
Upon receiving a March 10, 2025 letter from counsel for Skydance Media, PRP's counsel informed Skydance's counsel that PRP would respond. Instead of waiting for PRP's response, Skydance shared its accusations with the press. Skydance then filed a letter with the Chancery Court of Delaware, repeating the same claims.
To be very clear, the letters include accusations that are out of context, flat out wrong, and appear designed to cause serious damage to PRP by scaring away its investors. PRP's present offer has strong financial commitments that are more than sufficient to support its $13.5 billion offer.
Yesterday, at a hearing before the Chancery Court of Delaware, PRP firmly addressed Skydance's allegations. Skydance cherry-picked excerpts from annexes to PRP's initial proposed term sheet, presented more than six months ago. Paramount provided PRP no opportunity to interact with the special committee in any way, let alone to explain details in the proposed term sheet. Instead of letting PRP clear up any apparent confusion, Skydance accused PRP of "fraud" and of having "make believe" advisors.
"Skydance wants to change the subject from the fact that its transaction with Paramount is facing warranted scrutiny in the Delaware Chancery Court," stated Daphna Edwards Ziman, Co-Chair, PRP. "Skydance should address the allegations made by the New York City pension funds in the Delaware proceeding."
Moses Gross, Co-Chair of PRP and Managing Trustee of the Malka Investment Trust, said, "The ultimate question here that Paramount stockholders and the media should focus on is whether the merger with Skydance is good for stockholders and for those who love Paramount, its movies, and its TV shows, including its networks CBS, Nickelodeon, and BET. The answer is unequivocally 'No'."
Ms. Edwards Ziman added, "It's sad but not surprising that Skydance would prefer to attack. Our offer is vastly superior to Skydance's. We stand by our offer. We have committed financing and are ready to take Paramount to the next level. Our business plan for Paramount is to restore it to its prior glory and to build it up to maintain America's place as the center of entertainment and innovation globally. Our mission is to create groundbreaking content, drive youth engagement, and strengthen America's global image as a champion of freedom and equality."
Ms. Edwards Ziman concluded, "Paramount stockholders deserve transparency, integrity, and the best possible outcome, not opportunistic attempts to deflect from the serious, real concerns surrounding Paramount's refusal to consider PRP's offer."
About Project Rise Partners
Project Rise Partners is Rise Beyond LLC, a special purpose entity formed for the purpose of acquiring Paramount Global, and its members. PRP presented an offer to acquire Paramount Global in August 2024 and increased its offer in January 2025. The value of PRP's offer is $8.8 billion, plus $5 billion for restructuring of debt, if needed to ensure Paramount's financial stability. PRP also has a comprehensive growth strategy for Paramount to be implemented by experienced leaders across content, real estate, technology, and other areas central to Paramount's business.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties, and on information available as of the date hereof to Rise Beyond LLC, a special purpose entity formed for the purpose of acquiring Paramount Global ("Paramount"), which together with its members is referred to as "Project Rise Partners" or "PRP." There is no guaranty that PRP will acquire Paramount, and if it does, whether PRP's plan will play out as expected. Whether before or after any acquisition by PRP, Paramount's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings available at SEC.gov. Results could differ material from expectation for unforeseen reasons or for reasons that may become foreseeable at a later time but are not foreseeable now. Any acquisition by PRP of Paramount would be subject to negotiation, regulatory constraints, tax considerations, and other factors, some of which may be outside of PRP's and Paramount's control, and any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in this press release.
Forward-looking statements include statements regarding PRP's or Paramount's expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, and can be identified by forward-looking words, including, but not limited to, "anticipate," "believe," "could," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will" and "would" or similar words. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding future financial or operating results, PRP's or Paramount's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, and other statements that are not historical facts. PRP expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein in this presentation to reflect any change in PRP's or Paramount's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
Contact
For media inquiries, contact: media@projectrisepartners.com | andre.anderson@deweysquare.com.
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