Edgar Bronfman Jr. has abruptly withdrawn his last-minute bid for Paramount Global as his company ran out of time to present a firm offer that could represent a viable alternative to the pending acquisition agreement with Skydance Media.

Late Monday, Paramount Global’s special committee overseeing the lengthy M&A process issued a statement ending the company’s “go-shop” phase and declaring its intention to move forward with the Skydance Media deal. The committee said in a statement that it had “contacted more than 50 third parties” to assess whether there was interest in making a bid for the high-profile owner of Paramount Pictures, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, VH1, Comedy Central and others.

“On behalf of the Special Committee, we thank Mr. Bronfman and his group of investors for their interest and efforts,” said Charles E. Phillips, Jr., Chairman of the Special Committee of Paramount Global.

“After nearly eight months of thoroughly reviewing viable opportunities for Paramount, our special committee continues to believe that the transaction we have agreed to with Skydance offers immediate value and the potential for continued participation in value creation in a rapidly evolving industry landscape,” Phillips said.

Paramount Global said the Skydance deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025, something the company noted earlier this month with its weak second-quarter results, underscoring the urgency of the transaction. In announcing second-quarter results on August 8, Paramount Global stripped nearly $6 billion in value from its books to reflect the diminished prospects of its linear cable network group.

Early Monday evening, Bronfman acknowledged the end of his efforts.

“This evening, our bidding group informed the Special Committee that we will terminate the go-shop process. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to participate,” Bronfman said in a statement Monday evening.

“We continue to believe that Paramount Global is an exceptional company with an unmatched collection of top brands, assets and employees. While there may have been differences of opinion, we believe everyone involved in the sale process is united in the belief that Paramount’s best days are yet to come. We congratulate the Skydance team and thank the Special Committee and the Redstone family for their commitment throughout the go-shop process,” Bronfman said.

Bronfman’s group has thrown a wrench into Skydance Media’s plan to close its roughly $8 billion acquisition deal for Paramount Global. Skydance and Paramount Global have been dancing the M&A tango since late last year. Several industry players, from Apollo Global Management to individual operators such as Byron Allen and Steven Paul, have hinted over the past eight months that they want to buy Paramount. Bronfman went the furthest in the final days of the go-shop window built into the acquisition deal between Skydance and Paramount with the special committee of Paramount Global’s board charged with handling the tumultuous M&A process.

Understandably, Bronfman and his backers concluded on Monday that they did not have the time to work out the complicated financial and governance arrangements needed to present a concrete counterproposal to the Paramount Global committee. Nor did they appear to receive any signals from Paramount that there was any willingness to seek another extension with Skydance to facilitate talks. Skydance reluctantly built a six-week “go-shop” period, allowing Paramount Global to solicit better offers, into the final agreement it brokered last month after months of fitful negotiations.

The go-shop clause was a must for the seller because it is designed to protect Paramount Global’s majority shareholder Shari Redstone from shareholder lawsuits because the terms of the Skydance transaction are generally more favorable to her than to the owners of the company’s common stock. Paramount Global’s special committee voted last week to extend that go-shop deadline by an additional 15 days, to Sept. 5. That move irked Skydance Media CEO David Ellison, who angered Paramount Global’s board with a terse legal letter he fired off on Aug. 22, a day after the go-shop deadline originally expired.

Like the Murdochs, the Redstones are one of the last remnants of the media baron families that once controlled the country’s biggest studios, networks and publishing giants. Their ownership of preferred stock gave them near-absolute control over their companies. The Skydance transaction will be a milestone as the Redstone family largely exits the media and entertainment business.

A Skydance spokesman had no comment on Bronfman’s resignation.