ViacomCBS to Raise $3 Billion from Stock to Fuel Streaming

ViacomCBS is selling $3 billion in stock, with plans to use the combined net proceeds for “general corporate purposes,” including investments in streaming.

ViacomCBS is offering $2 billion of its Class B common stock and $1 billion of its Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock. Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan are acting as joint book-running managers for the offerings.

In its latest financial results, ViacomCBS reported revenue gains of 3 percent in the fourth quarter to $6.9 billion, delivering net earnings from continuing operations of $783 million. In Q4, streaming and digital video revenue was up by 71 percent to $888 million (largely from the U.S.), with subscription revenues up 74 percent and ad revenues up 69 percent. As at the end of Q4, the company had 30 million global streaming subscribers, a 56 percent year-on-year increase. In the U.S., CBS All Access and Showtime OTT have 19.2 million subs. Meanwhile, Pluto TV’s global monthly active users (MAUs) rose to 43 million, an 80 percent year-on-year gain, with U.S. MAUs up to 30.1 million and international rising to 12.9 million.

Paramount+ launched on March 4 in the U.S., Canada and 18 Latin American countries. Nordic countries will receive Paramount+ on March 25 as will Australia (though the service will be called 10 All Access).