Disagreements were over a majority of the minority vote clause and private comments critical of David Ellison from a Paramount board member.
Paramount Global and Skydance Media merger talks have ended due to disagreements on key terms.
Skydance Media had agreed to economic terms with Paramount Global for the potential merger, but approval was pending from Redstone and her family holding company NAI.
Paramount Global, the media conglomerate behind CBS and Paramount Pictures, has ended merger talks with Skydance Media after failing to reach an agreement on key terms. According to multiple reports, National Amusements, which owns a majority stake in Paramount Global and is controlled by Shari Redstone, called off the negotiations due to disagreements over a majority of the minority vote clause and private comments critical of David Ellison from a Paramount board member.
Skydance Media, founded by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison's son David Ellison in 2010, had reportedly agreed to economic terms with Paramount Global for a potential merger. However, the deal was awaiting approval from Redstone and her family holding company NAI.
The collapse of the merger talks leaves Paramount Global with its existing challenges, including a heavy debt load and declining television business. The company had launched its streaming service Paramount+ in 2021 but has continued to face losses and debts over time.
Paramount Global's CEO office, which includes CBS CEO George Cheeks, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks CEO Chris McCarthy, and Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon CEO Brian Robbins, released a statement supporting the strategic plan being executed by the company.
Skydance Media has produced or co-produced hit films and TV shows including
National Amusements owns 77% of class A Paramount shares.
Talks ended due to outstanding terms on which they could not come to agreement, including a majority of the minority vote clause and private comments critical of David Ellison from Paramount board member Charles Phillips.
Accuracy
Paramount and Skydance had agreed to merger terms just days before Skydance was set to acquire a controlling stake in National Amusements.
Redstone, whose family holding NAI controls about 80% of Skydance.
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The article contains an appeal to authority when it states 'Paramount declined to comment.' and 'Spokespeople for Skydance and Redbird did not immediately respond to requests for comment.', as these are implicit appeals to the credibility of the organizations in question. Additionally, there is a use of inflammatory rhetoric when it states 'Redstone's inability to let go of a family asset, her desire for more money for NAI, and private comments critical of David Ellison from Paramount board member Charles Phillips as likely reasons a deal collapsed.' This statement is not based on any evidence provided in the article and is an assumption made by unnamed sources.
]Paramount declined to comment.[
Spokespeople for Skydance and Redbird did not immediately respond to requests for comment.[
Redstone's inability to let go of a family asset, her desire for more money for NAI, and private comments critical of David Ellison from Paramount board member Charles Phillips as likely reasons a deal collapsed.
Paramount and Skydance entered an exclusive negotiating period in April for a potential merger.
Redstone, whose family holding NAI controls about 80% of Skydance, rejected the deal.
Deadline hears that economic terms were set but other issues like seeking consent from shareholders were not agreed upon.
Paramount may have found Skydance financials lacking and its valuation high in the deal.
Both sides couldn’t agree on how Skydance would operate the company through the regulatory process.
Accuracy
]Paramount and Skydance entered an exclusive negotiating period in April for a potential merger.[
Deception
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The article contains several instances of appeals to authority and speculation. The authors quote multiple sources, including Wall Street analysts and unnamed insiders, without providing any context or evaluation of their credibility or potential biases. Additionally, the authors make numerous assumptions about Redstone's motivations and intentions based on speculation rather than factual evidence.
Deadline hears that all of the deal's economic terms were set but other issues were not, like seeking consent for the deal from a ‘majority of the minority’ of shareholders not named Redstone. Redstone wanted to, Ellison, not surprising, did not.
We hear that both sides couldn’t agree on how Skydance would operate the company through the regulatory process.
At the annual shareholders meeting last week, Robbins, Cheeks and McCarthy laid out a path to divest non-core assets, unlock the value of content and possibly find a joint venture partner for streaming service Paramount+. As unorthodox as three chiefs seem, they are seasoned executives and Redstone seems to wants to keep them in place for now.
Inside Paramount Global, there was a sigh of relief today. Jeff Shell was set to step in for Skydance to run the combined company under Ellison. Division heads and other execs would also have been displaced.
National Amusements and Skydance Media have ended merger discussions without reaching an agreement.
Shari Redstone, controlling shareholder of National Amusements, is reportedly pursuing a sale of the company instead of merging it with Skydance Media.
Paramount Global’s Office of the CEO was created in April and is occupied by CBS CEO George Cheeks, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks CEO Chris McCarthy, and Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon CEO Brian Robbins.
Redstone’s family has had long stewardship of Paramount, built on the foundation laid by her late father Sumner Redstone.
Accuracy
National Amusements owns 77% of class A Paramount shares.
Paramount has struggled in an evolving media landscape with declining cable business and launched Paramount+ in 2021 but still faces losses and debts.
