Paramount Global stock soared more than 13% on Friday, making it the day’s best performer on the S&P 500. The stock surged followed a Reuters report that Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global in talks about a joint bid to purchase Paramount.
The companies haven’t yet talked to Paramount, Reuters reports, as Paramount is in exclusive merger talks with Skydance Media, a studio led by David Ellison. The companies have agreed to a month of exclusive talks and settled on a deal that values Skydance at around $5 billion. But the move has left shareholders deeply displeased.
Reuters reports that the competing, joint Sony-Apollo bid would offer cash for all outstanding shares of Paramount and take the company private. An earlier Apollo bid for the company was $26 billion, and the studio was offered $11 billion.
Even after rising 13.4% Friday, Paramount stock is still down 13.6% so far this year and almost 44% over the last 12 months.