Paramount Global gets bizarre all-cash bid from ‘Apex Capital’

A new player in the Paramount Global hunt reportedly offered and all-cash $43 billion offer for the media giant — but the money seems too good to be true.

A company called Apex Capital Trust — which claims to have significant stakes in sectors ranging from banking to gold mining — said Wednesday it submitted a bid, Reuters reported.

It has offered $35 a share for Class A voting shares, which it notes represents a 33% premium over the stock’s 52-week high, Reuters reported.

The company also said it would infuse the media company with $10 billion in working capital to carry out its business plan.

“Paramount and its assets are a national treasure, and we intend to treat them accordingly,” Apex Trust General Counsel Tatiana Logan said in a statement.

The only problem is that Alex Trust seems to be a bogus company, according to FT.

The press release from Logan misspells “capital” as “captial,” the outlet reported.

It also found that Apexcapitalmegatrust.com registered via GoDaddy’s free website service last Tuesday.

At around 5 p.m., Reuters issued an alert saying it was withdrawing the story pending further investigation about the legitimacy of the bid. 

The apparent hoax comes as Paramount has a 45-day “go-shop” period following the merger agreement with David Ellison’s Skydance Media, during which it can receive another deal.

Paramount and National Amusements did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.