via Wikimedia Commons)
Paramount Global is engaged in conversations to sell BET Media for up to $1.7 billion, according to a report from Bloomberg on Tuesday.
The report says Paramount is weighing an offer from a consortium of buyers that includes BET CEO Scott Mills and Chinh Chu, the head of a private equity firm based in New York City.
The discussions come several months after Paramount entertained an offer from the duo to acquire BET Media for less than $2 billion, which was lower than what the company was hoping to attract for the brand. BET Media includes the BET and VH1 cable channels, as well as Paramount’s stake in BET Plus, which operates as a joint venture with comedian Tyler Perry.
Talks between Paramount, Mills and Chu resumed weeks ago after the company ended pre-merger discussions with production firm Skydance Media, according to Bloomberg.
The company does not appear to be entertaining an earlier bid made by comedian and television mogul Byron Allen, who reportedly offered to pay $3.5 billion for BET Media last year.
