A liquor heir wants to swoop in on the Skydance-Paramount deal

A last-minute maneuver is threatening to amp up the drama around Paramount. The Wall Street Journal reports that businessman Edgar Bronfman Jr. has thrown his hat into the ring to take control of the media company.

Last month, Paramount Global (PARA) announced that it had agreed to sell itself to Skydance Media, a media company founded by Oracle (ORCL) founder Larry Ellison. The deal was constructed so that Skydance would assume control after Ellison bought a controlling stake in Paramount parent company National Amusements for $2.4 billion.

Bronfman is the son of the late liquor magnate Edgar Bronfman Sr., who was CEO of Seagram Co. It’s a bit ironic given that the current president of National Amusements is Shari Redstone, also the heir of the fortune of her corporate impresario father, the late media titan Sumner Redstone.

The Journal reports that the Skydance-Paramount deal, which took months of tense negotiations, is subject to a “go-shop” period ending next week where other potential suitors attempt to insert themselves. Other callers have included IAC founder Barry Diller and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). If Skydance were to lose out on National Amusements and Paramount, it would reap a $400 million breakup fee.