Tencent mulls investment in Paramount's Warner Bros. acquisition
Tencent, the Chinese tech giant, is thinking about putting some serious cash into Paramount's $110 billion bid to buy Warner Bros.
An earlier $1 billion equity commitment from Tencent, included in Paramount's offer, was withdrawn amid security concerns, but now they're eyeing a smaller, more hands-off investment.
The deal is funded by equity backed by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital, plus large debt commitments from Bank of America, Citigroup and Apollo Global Management.
Regulatory hurdles expected in this deal
If Tencent jumps in, it would be for a few hundred million dollars (nothing final yet).
Paramount has tweaked its offer to address Warner Bros.' worries, and shareholders might get a shot at buying new stock too.
But since this involves a Chinese company investing in US media, expect lots of regulatory hurdles and maybe even more delays before anything's official.