Paramount merger off the table
Paramount’s controlling shareholder has ended negotiations with Skydance Media about a potential merger after more than six months of discussions.
Shari Redstone’s National Amusements controls 77% of voting shares in Paramount, and was in protracted talks to Skydance Media over a prospective merger. The news “shocked the entertainment industry”, Variety reports, as a deal was expected to be imminent.
In a statement, the company said: “National Amusements, Inc., the majority voting shareholder of Paramount Global, today announced that they have not been able to reach mutually acceptable terms regarding the potential transaction with Skydance Media for the acquisition of a controlling stake in NAI.
Skydance was the best option for Paramount as a business. Bain Capital is a chop shop that chews up businesses and sells off the bones. You’d see Warners and Disney fighting over the Star Trek IP sale whilst Sony would go after the Mission Impossible and Sonic franchises. None of these options really bode well for Channel 10 which will probably be sold off to Lachlan Murdoch and run into the ground within 3-5 years and cease airing before the end of the decade.
This takeover process is starting to resemble the mid 90s sale of Paramount Communications to Sunmer Redstone which was a slugfest between him and Barry Diller. Recommend listening to the ‘Business Wars’ podcast series on that. It’s extremely entertaining.