Apollo Global Management in recent days has reached out to a special committee formed by Paramount Global about a possible takeover or asset purchase, two sources familiar with the matter tell Axios.

State of play: Apollo would face competition, including a group led by David Ellison's film and TV studio Skydance Media.

• That rival group, which includes private equity firms KKR and RedBird Capital Partners, is evaluating an all-cash bid for Paramount's parent, National Amusements Inc. (NAI), which controls 77% of Paramount's voting stock and a 10% financial stake.
• Apollo is said to be evaluating a deal only with Paramount, whose major assets include Paramount Pictures, broadcaster CBS, a slew of Viacom cable networks, and streaming services Paramount+ and PlutoTV.
• It's also possible that Apollo could wind up bidding only on select assets.

Context: Speculation of Apollo's interest first surfaced in January, but then cooled after a February report that the investment firm was no longer interested.

• Axios reported in December that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish to discuss a possible merger, but those talks are now paused.
• NBCUniversal parent Comcast has reportedly explored a commercial partnership with Paramount, but a deal to buy the entire company would be difficult given regulatory constraints.
• Representatives for Apollo, Paramount and NAI declined to comment.

Between the lines: Apollo is no stranger to Hollywood, but its interest in Paramount comes at a trying time for the industry.

• In early 2022, Apollo took a $760 million minority stake in Legendary Entertainment, which has produced hits such as "Dune" and "Jurassic World."
• It later eyed a joint bid for Starz with Roku, but the deal never materialized.
• Apollo most recently helped Yahoo reinvent itself after acquiring the firm from Verizon in 2021.

The big picture: Paramount is under enormous pressure to find a strategic partner or buyer, as it stares down a mountain of debt.

• NAI reached a deal with creditors to restructure some of its debt in September. It's tried to streamline its portfolio by shedding assets, including book publisher Simon & Schuster and real estate.

What we're watching: Apollo could face regulatory pushback due to CBS' local broadcast stations.

• Regulators killed a proposed takeover of Tegna by Apollo affiliate Standard General last year.
• Apollo bought a majority stake in Cox Media's broadcast group in 2019.