(Bloomberg) -- Edgar Bronfman Jr. made an 11th-hour, $4.3 billion bid this week to take control of Paramount Global, the parent of CBS and MTV, the latest in a series of entertainment industry plays by the heir to the Seagram liquor fortune.
Bronfman, 69, has bought and sold some of the biggest names in entertainment since his first days leading the family business in the 1990s, including Time Warner, Universal Studios and Warner Music. Not all have been successful. He’s currently executive chairman of FuboTV Inc., the sports-centric streaming provider.
Here’s a timeline of Bronfman’s media deals, from his ascension to the CEO post at Seagram to his bid for Paramount. A representative of Bronfman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
June 1, 1994:
Seagram Sees Long-Term Gains From Time Warner Investment
Bronfman succeeds his father as chief executive officer of Seagram. At the time, Seagram held a 5.7% take in Time Warner, with a goal of reaching 15%. The younger Bronfman was the prime mover behind the Time Warner investment.
April 9, 1995:
Seagram Agrees to Buy 80% of MCA for $5.7 Billion
Seagram agrees to buy 80% of entertainment conglomerate MCA, the parent of Universal Studios, from Matsushita Electric for $5.7 billion. Matsushita retained a 20% interest. Seagram financed the transaction by selling most of its stake in DuPont for $8.8 billion.
May 28, 1997:
Seagram Sells Half of Time Warner Stake for $1.4 Billion
Seagram sells 30 million Time Warner shares, more than half its stake, for $1.39 billion just days after the stock touched a record high. The Canadian company made a 21% profit, or about $244 million, analysts said. It bought the stock from 1993 to 1995 as Bronfman sought to enter Hollywood.
Sept. 22, 1997:
Seagram to Buy Viacom Stake in USA Networks for $1.7 Billion
Seagram agrees to buy Viacom’s half of its USA Networks joint venture for $1.7 billion, giving Bronfman assets such as the Sci-Fi Channel.
Sept. 24, 1997
Seagram to Buy Back 10% of Its Shares for C$1.14 Billion
Seagram announces it will buy back as much as 10% of its stock in the coming year to prop up the lagging price as Bronfman extends his push into entertainment. Bronfman is betting a two-year Hollywood spending spree of about $7.5 billion will bring big profit to a company that was generates most of its earnings from liquor and juice. So far the strategy hadn’t paid off for investors, who watched their Seagram shares fall 7% that year.
Oct. 20, 1997
Seagram Sells Universal Studios TV Assets to HSN for $4.08 Billion
Chairman Barry Diller’s Home Shopping Network agrees to buy most of Seagram’s Universal Studios TV business for $4.08 billion. HSN will pay $1.2 billion in cash, plus a 45% stake in HSN valued at $2.8 billion, for assets such as USA Network and the Sci-Fi Channel. Bronfman is banking on Diller’s expertise to build his entertainment powerhouse: Seagram has the option to increase its stake to 50%.
May 21, 1998:
Seagram to Buy PolyGram for $10.6 Billion, Sell Tropicana
Seagram agrees to buy PolyGram, the largest music company, for $10.6 billion. Seagram also said it will spin off its Tropicana juice unit in an initial public offering the company expects to generate as much as $4 billion. Seagram bought Tropicana for $1.2 billion in 1988. Bronfman’s expansion into music is aimed at revitalizing an entertainment business that had been lagging since Seagram purchased MCA in 1995.
May 27,1998:
Seagram Sells Its Last 11.8 Million Shares of Time Warner
The sale for $914.5 million will help finance the planned purchase of Polygram.
June 20, 2000
Vivendi to Buy Seagram, Canal Plus for $46 Billion
Paris-based Vivendi agrees to buy Seagram for $34 billion, excluding debt. Seagram investors will receive $77.35 in Vivendi stock for each of their shares, up 21% from the prior day’s close. Vivendi plans to sell Seagram’s liquor business to pay down roughly $6.7 billion of debt. The deal, along with Vivendi’s purchase of Canal Plus, transforms CEO Jean-Marie Messier’s water, phone and internet business into a European rival to America Online, which is acquiring Time Warner. Vivendi shares fall 8.7%.
Dec. 6, 2001
Bronfman Resigns as Vivendi’s Executive Vice Chairman
Bronfman resigns one year after selling Seagram to Vivendi. Bronfman and his father’s family branch own 3% of the company. Messier indicated they have no plans to sell their shares next year. Another branch of the Bronfman family owns 2.5%. Shares of Vivendi have fallen 21% in the past year.
Dec. 17, 2001
Vivendi to Buy USA Networks Unit for $10.3 Billion
Vivendi agrees to buy the entertainment business of Diller’s USA Networks for $10.3 billion, gaining two US cable-TV networks and access to 82 million US households. Vivendi will pay $1.62 billion in cash, $1.65 billion in its own shares and its 41% percent stake in USA Network. Vivendi gets the USA Network, Sci-Fi Channel and a TV studio that produces shows including Law & Order. Vivendi also bought 10% of US satellite-TV broadcaster EchoStar for $1.5 billion.
May 21, 2003:
Bronfman Seeks to Salvage Family Fortune by Retaking Universal
Bronfman tries unsuccessfully to buy back Vivendi’s US entertainment assets. In December 2000, the Bronfman family’s main holding, a 7.5% stake in Vivendi, was worth $7 billion. Now, their 4.2% stake is worth $774 million.
Oct. 8, 2003:
GE, Vivendi Agree on Sale, Creating NBC Universal
General Electric, the parent of NBC, agrees to buy Vivendi’s US media assets in a transaction valued at $14 billion, adding a Hollywood studio and three cable channels to NBC and doubling the unit’s sales. GE will assume $1.7 billion of debt and commits to issuing about $3.8 billion of stock in exchange for 80% of the combined company. Vivendi will receive $3.3 billion.
Nov. 24, 2003:
Bronfman to Buy Time Warner Music Group
Bronfman and a group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners agree to buy Time Warner’s music unit for $2.6 billion in cash, betting they can revive a business whose sales have been hurt by Internet piracy.
Oct. 10, 2004
Warner Music Plans to Return as Much as $350 Million to Investors
Warner Music can return capital to investors because its plans to cut costs and boost profitability are ahead of schedule, Bronfman said in a statement. A restructuring that began in March was mostly finished in April, he said. Bronfman is chairman and chief executive officer of the closely held company.
Dec. 16, 2004:
Warner Music Parent Will Sell $700 Mln of Junk Bonds
WMG Holdings, the parent of Warner Music, plans to use the proceeds to pay a dividend to its owners, said a person familiar with the offering. The company last sold debt in the US in April when it issued $465 million of 2014 notes to finance the takeover, according to Bloomberg data.
April 18, 2005:
Warner Music Sets IPO Price, Values Total at $3.4 Billion
Warner Music will use proceeds from the IPO to pay down debt and for general corporate purposes. The company had net debt of $2.24 billion as of Dec. 31. Warner Music plans to sell 27.2 million shares at $22 to $24 each, valuing the company at $3.4 billion. Investors will sell another 5.43 million shares, with Thomas H. Lee Partners raising about $65.5 million, Bronfman $16.5 million and Bain Capital raising about $28 million.
August 22, 2005:
Warner Music Shares Climb Back to IPO Price of $17
Shares of Warner Music climb back to their initial public offering price for the first time after the company reported rising sales earlier this month.
Feb. 9, 2007:
Bronfman’s Bet on Online Sales at Warner Music Isn’t Paying Off
When Bronfman bought Warner Music three years ago, he was betting that digital music sales would spur growth. The gamble has yet to pay off. Warner Music posts a 74% plunge in first-quarter net income and an 11% drop in revenue as album sales slumped. The declines led to a 5.8% slide in the company’s stock and sparked concerns that Bronfman isn’t acting quickly enough to stem sales decline.
Jan. 20, 2011:
Messier, Bronfman Fined by Court in Vivendi Criminal Case
Vivendi’s Messier was fined 150,000 euros ($200,000) and Bronfman 5 million euros by a three-judge panel. Neither was sentenced to jail time. Messier, 54, was found guilty of misleading investors during his tenure as Vivendi’s chief executive officer. Bronfman, also 54, was found to have traded on inside information while vice chairman.
Jan. 21, 2011:
Warner Music Group Said to Hire Goldman to Find Buyer
Warner Music is approached for possible purchase by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. Bronfman Jr. took the offer to the board, which decided to hire Goldman Sachs. Warner Music shares climbed $1.24 to $5.96 in New York.
Feb. 28, 2011
Warner Music Said to Receive More Than 10 Bids in Asset Sale
Warner Music, which put itself up for sale in January, has received more than 10 bids for its businesses. Billionaire Len Blavatnik, a former director, is seeking most of the company.
May 6, 2011
Blavatnik Agrees to Buy Warner Music Group for $1.3 Billion
Blavatnik agrees to buy the record company for about $1.3 billion. Blavatnik’s Access Industries Holdings will pay $8.25 a share, the companies said. The sale of Warner Music includes bond debt, valuing the entire transaction at about $3.3 billion.
Dec. 5, 2011:
Warner Music’s Edgar Bronfman to Step Down as Chairman
Bronfman will remain a director of the company, he told employees in a memo. The general partner of private-equity company Accretive said he needs more time for other obligations.
Dec. 23, 2013:
Edgar M. Bronfman (Sr.), Billionaire Who Expanded Seagram, Dies at 84
The elder Bronfman overcame the misgivings of his younger brother and co-chairman, to permit his son, Edgar Jr., to sell Seagram’s 25% stake in DuPont and plunge into the entertainment business. A series of costly deals culminated in Seagram’s sale to Vivendi for stock that soon lost more than 80% of its value. By late 2002, the extended family’s holdings in Vivendi were worth less than half of its initial $6.5 billion stake.
March 10, 2016:
Sky, Fox Lead $15 Million Funding of Web Sports Outlet FuboTV
Investors in Fubo’s $15 million funding round include Bronfman, Chris Silbermann, a partner at ICM Partners, and David Stern, former commissioner of the National Basketball Association, as well as DCM Ventures, Luminari Capital and LionTree Partners.
March 8, 2017:
Bronfman-Led Group Is Said to Pull Out of Time Inc. Bidding
The group concluded that Time Inc. would demand too much money to sell, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Other bidders, including Meredith Corp., have also been pursuing an acquisition of the company, whose titles include Time, Fortune and People.
Oct. 14, 2020:
FuboTV Chairman Bronfman Buys $2 Million of Shares
Bronfman purchased 200,000 indirectly owned shares at an average price of $10 on Oct. 13, according to a filing. The shares trade under $2 today.
Aug. 19, 2024:
Bronfman Bids $4.3 Billion for Control of Paramount Global
The media executive is offering to buy National Amusements, the Redstone family holding company that owns the majority of Paramount’s voting stock, for about $2.4 billion, including liabilities. Bronfman also plans to provide $1.5 billion to reduce Paramount’s debt.
--With assistance from Hannah Miller.
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