ViacomCBS prices $3 billion offering of equity securities

ViacomCBS Inc. priced the offering of $3 billion of equity securities announced on Tuesday to help fund investments in its streaming service Paramount+, which launched in March. The company priced $20 million shares of its Class B common stock at $85 a share. It priced 10 million shares of its 5.75% mandatory convertible preferred stock at $100 a share. Underwriters led by Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Mizuho Securities and Siebert Williams Shank have the option to purchase up to an additional 3 million Class B shares and up to an additional 1.5 million shares of mandatory convertible preferred stock. The company expects to raise $3.06 billion if both options are exercised. The company is planning to apply to list the mandatory convertible preferred stock on Nasdaq, under the ticker "VIACP." ViacomCBS shares were down 5.8% premarket. The stock closed Monday at a record of $100.34, marking a 12th record close so far this month. The stock has gained 144.9% in the year to date.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.