Through his media and entertainment organization, billionaire TV magnate Byron Allen controls broadcast TV stations affiliated with the networks ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. In addition, he owns a number of streaming services and 24-hour HD TV networks, including HBCU Go, Sports.TV, ComedyTV, Local Now, and The Weather Channel.
The media magnate is making a big offer to Paramount Global to buy BET Media Group in an attempt to diversify his business holdings. Variety reports that the founder and CEO of Allen Media Group emailed the board and senior officials of Paramount Global with a $3.5 billion bid for BET Media Group.
“You are pursuing an inside sale at a below-market price with management that will not yield the highest price for the stockholders,” he said in the email, according to Variety. “We believe it would be an egregious breach of fiduciary duty by the Paramount Global management team and board of directors if BET is sold for anything less than the highest price, particularly, in order to provide a sweetheart deal to an insider at the expense of public shareholders.”
The platform also stated that Allen’s initial 2023 offer of $2.7 billion was not as good as the current one. According to Variety, BET CEO Scott Mills, a 26-year industry veteran, and Chinh Chu, a former executive at private equity firm Blackstone, are among the other bidders of BET Media Group.
Allen was one of a few black celebrities who expressed interest in purchasing BET at the beginning of the year. P.Diddy and Tyler Perry were among the others.According to the Wall Street Journal, Paramount considered bidding for a controlling share in BET Media Group, but decided against it because “a sale would not result in any meaningful deleveraging of its balance sheet.”
Following a rumor that Paramount is in talks to sell BET to an investor group overseen by management, Allen has extended his offer.
The comedian who is now a business entrepreneur has previously attempted to purchase a sizable media network. He submitted a $8 billion bid for the purchase of TEGNA, a media business that operates 64 stations in 51 U.S. locations, according to a 2021 How Africa article.
In 2018, The Weather Channel was acquired by his Entertainment Studios. In exchange for $300 million, Allen’s company Allen Media LLC purchased the channel from Comcast Corporation as well as private equity firms Blackstone Group LP and Bain Capital.
In 1993, Allen opened Entertainment Studios in his house. He has now established offices in Raleigh, North Carolina, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles. Some of the networks that Allen owns are Pets.TV, Comedy.TV, Recipe.TV and Cars. TV. Allen is among the wealthiest Black Americans as a result of his acquisition of numerous media outlets.
He recently made history by being the first African American to purchase a home in the US for the highest amount of money. When Beyoncé and Jay-Z purchased a $88 million compound in Bel-Air in 2017, they set the previous record.
The 10,698-square-foot mansion with eight bedrooms and twelve bathrooms, situated on 3.6 acres above the ocean, is said to have cost the 62-year-old $100 million.