GLONGHUI, May 3 | The Wall Street Journal quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Sony Pictures (Sony Pictures) and the US private equity fund Apollo Global Management proposed an all-cash acquisition plan of 26 billion US dollars to the US media company Paramount Global (Paramount Global). This offer is the starting point of discussions between Sony and Apollo and is not binding. Under the terms of the new offer, Sony will be the shareholder holding a significant majority of shares, and Apollo will hold a minority stake and relinquish control of operations. Apollo previously issued a $26 billion acquisition proposal to Paramount, including approximately $12 billion in equity and debt to Paramount. However, at the time, Paramount had concerns about Apollo's bid, including whether Apollo could arrange financing for the deal. Paramount has been evaluating a merger with production company Skydance Media for the past few weeks. The two sides began exclusive negotiations on the deal last month, but the exclusive negotiation period will end on Friday, which means Paramount and its controlling shareholder Redstone can begin negotiations with other potential buyers.