Looks like Shaquille O’Neal, 50 Cent and Tyler Perry won’t be the new owners of BET. According to reports, Paramount Global is holding on to BET for now as the auction of the media entity was cancelled after offers were not what Paramount hoped. The NBA legend, hip-hop mogul, and media mogul put together a bid of $2 billion but Paramount was hoping for $3 billion.
BET operates cable channels VH1, BET and streaming service BET+. Paramount reportedly wanted a deal “which could return the asset to Black ownership” with a “party that could be a good partner and responsible steward of the assets and the mission.”
Apparently, finding that party who could also meet the desired $3 billion price was too difficult.
“We made this decision because the benefits of maintaining a majority stake in BET Media Group creates more value for Paramount than any of the proposals we received,” a source close to Paramount told The New York Post.
Shaq And 50 Moving On
Shaq and 50 both took to their Instagram accounts to discuss the news. Shaq had a more muted response, commenting:
“@50cent we’ll get em next time.”
The rap mogul, whose birth name is Curtis Jackson, was a little more direct, saying the media property isn’t worth $3 billion.
“We will get them next time, @Shaq 🤷🏽♂️that shit wasn’t worth 3,000,000,000”
Paramount Global chairwoman Shari Redstone clearly sees things differently.
It was reported that media mogul and billionaire Byron Allen, who owns The Weather Channel, TheGrio, Pets.TV, Cars.TV and Comedy.TV, made an offer closer to $3 billion, but he also was rejected.
“Paramount did not want to sell BET to Byron Allen,” a source at the company said, pointing to Allen’s lack of committed financing.
The True Value Of Media Properties
The true value of media properties is a difficult thing to assess in today’s consumer consumption environment. Appointment viewing has changed, and the options for consumers have increased immensely.
Paramount has sold some of its assets to pay down existing debt, including publishing giant Simon & Schuster to global private equity firm KKR for $1.62 billion, below the over $2 billion Paramount expected.
It is believed that the sale of BET would also be to pay down existing debt. In Paramount’s second quarter earning report, the brand reported a loss of $424 million for the three months leading up to June 30, due to losses in its streaming division.
