Apollo Distancing Orbit From National Amusements Buyout As The Pursuit Of Paramount Global Continues – The Dish
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: We are hearing that Apollo Global Management, who was mulling an offer for National Amusements, the Redstone family company that controls Paramount Global, is no longer considering that now.
Reps for Apollo Global Management, Paramount Global and National Amusements declined to comment. While the situation is still fluid and it may be early to count Apollo out of the process entirely, sources tell us that the Marc Rowan-Josh Harris-Leon Black co-founded private equity company is skittish in the wake of the FCC blowing up hedge fund Standard General’s attempted $8.6 billion bid for the Tegna station group — a deal that Apollo Global Management was set to provide funding toward.
The deal was inked in 2022 and fell apart in May of 2023. Apollo is also an investor in Dune movie studio Legendary Entertainment. “Capital is not the issue, approval is the commodity; very few people can get FCC approval,” a person with knowledge of the Paramount Global pursuit told Deadline.
Meaning regulatory concerns, not access to capital, are the key consideration on who takes over Paramount Global or National Amusements. “The FCC doesn’t want hedge fund operators going near local TV stations after what they did to newspapers,” the person added.
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