QVC Begins Its Tender Offer for Paramount Shares : Mergers: As expected, it bids $80 per share in an effort to gain control of 51% of the entertainment giant’s stock.

QVC Network Inc. on Wednesday began an $80-a-share tender offer for 60,437,000 shares of Paramount Communications Inc. and said it may change its offer, according to newspaper advertisements.

The tender offer, which was expected, is directed at gaining control of 51% of Paramount’s stock. If the cash portion of the offer is successful, QVC intends to exchange 1.42857 of its shares for each of Paramount’s remaining shares.

QVC, a West Chester, Pa., cable television retailer, is competing with Viacom Inc. for control of Paramount.

Viacom, a radio and television company that owns the Nickelodeon and MTV cable networks, already has an agreement to buy Paramount.

Viacom has matched QVC’s bid and started a tender offer of its own Monday.

Meanwhile, BellSouth Corp., which had offered to be an equal partner with QVC in a bid to acquire Paramount, is now considering a plan to buy Paramount on its own, people close to BellSouth said.

A solo bid for Paramount is among “a wide array of options (that) are being considered,” said one person familiar with BellSouth’s strategy. BellSouth officials “have the authority to pursue these options seriously.”

Some analysts and traders also believe BellSouth may include a cable partner, such as Cablevision Systems Corp., in a bid for Paramount. Cablevision, a Woodbury, N.Y., cable operator with franchises in several major markets, including Long Island, has held talks with a number of regional Bell companies, including US West Inc.

Paramount stock closed Wednesday at $79. QVC is at $55.50. Viacom class A shares closed at $58.25, and its class B shares are at $51.125. BellSouth closed up 37.5 cents at $62.375.