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ViacomCBS is looking for some fresh cash to bolster its push into streaming. The company on Monday said that it would take to market $2 billion in Class B common stock and $1 billion in Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock.
In a statement, the company said it would use the cash generated from the sales “for general corporate purposes, including investments in streaming.”
The company relaunched its CBS All Access streaming service as Paramount+ earlier this month, announcing a slew of reboots, spinoffs and original series and films in the process. At an investor day in February, the company said it expects to ramp up its streaming content spend to $5 billion by 2024.
With Disney+ already topping 100 million subscribers, and HBO Max set to launch its own ad-supported offering in June, Paramount+ is looking to supercharge its existing subscriber base (more than 19 million between CBS All Access and Showtime) while also boosting Pluto, its free, ad-supported streaming offering.
Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan are the book runners on the offering, and have 30-day options “to purchase up to an additional $300 million of Class B common stock and up to an additional $150 million of Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock,” according to ViacomCBS.
The convertible stock will automatically convert into Class B common stock on April 1, 2024 unless converted earlier.
The $3 billion sale also comes as the share price of ViacomCBS has soared in recent weeks. A month ago on Feb. 23 shares were trading at just over $64 per share. As of the market close on Monday, shares in the company were trading over $100 each.
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