After the bell Monday, ViacomCBS announced that it will sell $3 billion in stock in two secondary offerings, for bolstering its streaming services among other purposes.
The media behemoth plans to sell $2 billion of its Class B common stock and $1 billion of its Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred stock. It has given the underwriters separate 30-day options to buy up to $300 million of Class B common stock and up to $150 million of Mandatory Convertible Preferred.
ViacomCBS aims to use the combined net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including investments in streaming.
Oprah Winfrey's interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle garnered 17.1 million viewers for CBS on March 7, according to data from ratings provider Nielsen.
The National Football League announced last week that CBS has won the rights to continue broadcasting American Football Conference Sunday afternoon games for the 10-year period from 2023 to 2033. The games will be streamed live on Paramount+ also shown on the CBS Television Network. CBS will carry the Super Bowl in 2023, 2027 and 2031. The cost will reportedly be around $2 billion a year.