Skydance’s Proposed Deal With Paramount Global Appears To Be Falling Apart

After months of M&A talks, Paramount Global and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone might be going it alone after all — for now.

Insiders tell that the expectation at the company is that neither of the two offers in play — Skydance Media-RedBird Capital Partners and Sony Pictures Entertainment-Apollo Global Management — will come to fruition. And Redstone is said to have reluctantly concluded that a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance, a longtime partner of Paramount Pictures, will not be possible.

As of Friday morning, the special committee established by Paramount Global’s board to evaluate M&A proposals had not notified Skydance one way or the other about its best and final offer, which would involve Skydance acquiring Redstone’s National Amusements Inc. and merging Skydance and Paramount Global, per a source familiar with the talks. The exclusive negotiating window between Skydance and the Paramount Global board’s special committee established to review M&A offers is set to expire at midnight Friday.

Meanwhile, the Paramount board’s special committee will review the joint Sony-Apollo offer, floating a $26 billion all-cash buyout premium, after the May 3 expiration of the Skydance negotiating window. But that may be so the board fulfills its fiduciary duty to consider all credible M&A proposals. Insiders expect the proposal to ultimately be a deal-breaker, given anticipated regulatory hurdles required to complete such a transaction.

Moreover, Redstone — who has final say-so over what deal to accept — is known to be loath to sell her family’s media company to a private-equity-backed buyer. Those familiar with Redstone’s thinking say she remains open to any deal that’s in the best interests of shareholders and that she supports the Paramount special committee’s review of the Sony-Apollo overture. That said, the Sony-Apollo offer appears more attractive to Paramount Global’s Class B (nonvoting) shareholders than the Skydance deal. If the Sony-Apollo offer is deemed unworkable, the most likely outcome is that Paramount Global will not proceed on either front given the threat of investor legal action were the company to move forward with Skydance.

Reps for Paramount Global, Skydance and National Amusements have declined to comment, as has a spokesman for the Paramount board’s special committee reviewing M&A offers. Reps for Apollo and Sony have not responded to requests for comment.

The situation remains fluid, and no definitive decisions have been made about Paramount or Redstone’s next moves.

But if the M&A talks are abandoned, Paramount Global would indeed be run for the foreseeable future by the three-headed “Office of the CEO” — CBS’s George Cheeks, Paramount Pictures’ Brian Robbins and Chris McCarthy, head of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks — after Bob Bakish was shown the door. The trio have told employees they’re prepping a “long-term plan” for Paramount Global. As part of cutting the company’s debt load, insiders speculate that strategic plan might include selling BET Media Group (which media mogul Byron Allen has expressed interest in acquiring) and the famed 62-acre Paramount Pictures Studio lot on Melrose Avenue in L.A. The go-forward strategy might also see the company try to combine the Paramount+ streaming service with NBCUniversal’s Peacock in some way.

At this point, Paramount Global is preparing “to go it alone,” LightShed Partners analysts Rich Greenfield, Brandon Ross and Mark Kelley speculated in a blog post Friday. “While Skydance could come back later in 2024 or next year, we sense National Amusements sees too many legal headaches with proceeding, given the special committee’s view of the proposed transaction.”

Regarding the Sony-Apollo bid, the LightShed analysts noted, “National Amusements does not want to see a breakup of the company and can stop any transaction they do not desire.” They suggested that regulatory approval of such a deal, given restrictions on studio and TV station consolidation and foreign ownership, would take at least 12 months “and potentially far longer if the administration turns over in November.”

Skydance Media Exclusive Talks With Paramount Global Conclude As Apollo And Sony Make Bid To Acquire The Company

Skydance Media is prepared to walk away from its offer for Paramount Global unless it receives a firm commitment from controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, following the latest offer from Apollo Global Management and Sony Pictures, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The exclusivity window for discussions between David Ellison's Skydance, backed by private equity firms RedBird Capital and KKR, and Paramount ends Friday and won't be extended, people familiar with the matter mentioned Paramount shares rose following the report.

The consortium has been waiting for word from Paramount's special committee on whether the panel will recommend its bid to acquire the company to Redstone. Now, with Apollo and Sony formally expressing interest in acquiring the company for about $26 billion, the Skydance group is looking for Redstone to reaffirm her commitment to the deal.

The Skydance consortium is not keen to hang around to be a stalking horse offer for Apollo and Sony, one of the people said. Still, depending on what Redstone says, Ellison may be willing to work with her, a second person said.

Spokespeople for Skydance, Redstone's National Amusements and Paramount's special committee declined to comment on Friday.

Apollo and Sony made their latest offer Thursday, CNBC previously reported. The special committee is currently considering the bid, the people said.

As part of Skydance's latest deal on the table, Redstone may take less than $2 billion for her controlling stake in Paramount, which is lower than Skydance's initial offer. The consortium is contributing additional capital to pay common, Class B shareholders at a nearly 30% premium to the undisturbed trading price of about $11 per share. In total, Redstone and Skydance would contribute $3 billion, with the vast majority going to Class B shareholders, according to people familiar with the matter.

Skydance's valuation as part of the deal remains around $5 billion, the people said. It's unclear if the Apollo-Sony offer gives Redstone the same premium.

Previously, Redstone rejected an offer by Apollo in favor of exclusive talks with Skydance. Redstone has preferred a deal that would keep Paramount together, as Skydance's offer would. A private equity firm is likely to break up the company.

News Shorts: CBeebies Picks Up Rights To New Series Piggy Builders, Bob Bakish Exits Paramount Global’s CEO Position Amidst Acquisition Talks With Skydance And Every Girl's Dream Makes Its Freemium Debut On Zee One

BBC Children’s, France Télévisions and Germany’s ZDF have ordered Piggy Builders

Created by Marie Manand, Julien Hazebroucq and Emmanuelle Leleu, this 52 x 11-minute series stars three pig siblings who are very different individually, but who all share a passion for building projects in their forest home and fending off a meddlesome wolf named Vern.

Romain Villemaine (Ricky Zoom, Maya the Bee) is on board to direct, and Piggy Builders‘ first episodes will be unveiled at MIPCOM in October, followed by premieres on CBeebies, France Télévisions and ZDF in Q3 2025.

Piggy Builders was originally pitched at Cartoon Forum 2021, where it was well-received, according to Xilam founder and CEO Marc du Pontavice. It’s the studio’s second CG-animated series after Oggy Oggy, which has been acquired by the likes of France Télévisions, Discovery (Italy) and Super RTL (Germany) following its global premiere on Netflix in 2021.   

Paramount CEO Bob Bakish is stepping down, will be replaced by a trio of executives

Bakish climbed the corporate ladder after joining Viacom in 1997, until he became CEO of the company in 2016. Following the merger of Viacom and CBS, he became CEO of the combined company in 2019, which was later renamed Paramount Global. He is also leaving the company's board of directors, Paramount said Monday.

Bakish will be replaced by what the company called an "Office of the CEO." Paramount will now be led by CBS president and CEO George Cheeks; Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks; and Brian Robbins, the head of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon. The company said the three executives will work closely with Paramount CFO Naveen Chopra and the board.

In the release Monday, Paramount said the new leadership is "working with the board to develop a comprehensive, long-range plan to accelerate growth and develop popular content, materially streamline operations, strengthen the balance sheet, and continue to optimize the streaming strategy."

Zee World repeat launching on Zee One

After debuting on the pay-tv channel in 2022, Zee One is set to give other consumers within Africa an open window to access to Every Girl's Dream from the 5th May replacing King Of Hearts.

Every Girl's Dream (Tere Bina Jiya Jaye Na) which was launched in November 2021 on Zee TV revolves around Krisha a hospitality graduate, trying best to prove herself and help her family financially by working at her father's friends' royal hotel in Udaipur. It was there where she meets her Prince Charming, Devraj.

 

Anjali Tatrari and Avinesh Rekhi played the lead with other stars like Leenesh Mattoo, Romil Chaudhary, Simran Sharma, Rakshanda Khan, Farah Lakhani, Utkarsha Naik, Leena Balodi, Karuna Verma, Aashish Bhardwaj serve as supporting characters.

Skydance Reportedly Looking To Merge Paramount+ With Another Streaming Service

Last week, merger talks for Paramount Global heated up, with reports that the media company that produces and controls the Star Trek franchise had entered into exclusive talks with Skydance Media. One of the big questions has been how such a deal would impact Paramount+, home to original Star Trek programming. Now a picture of a possible future for the streaming service is starting to emerge.

Skydance wants to keep Paramount+

When the first reports about Paramount Global potentially being sold or merged started in December, industry analysts suggested Paramount+ might not survive the corporate shake-up. While Paramount has seen consistent growth with its streaming service, it has yet to turn a profit. However, now that Skydance Media is in exclusive talks to take over Paramount, they are apparently planning on keeping Paramount+, but will make some changes. The New York Times reports “The plan calls for Skydance to supercharge Paramount’s streaming capabilities, improving personalization with better algorithmic recommendations and making it more efficient through better deals with data providers.”

According to the same report, the post-Skydance/Paramount merger plan would call for teaming up with another major media company for a streaming joint venture in the USA. A new report in Bloomberg confirms Skydance wants to “preserve the Paramount+ streaming service and explore merging it with a peer, such as Peacock or Max.” A deal with Amazon Prime Video has also been considered, according to Bloomberg. Earlier this year, it was reported that Paramount had opened up discussions with Comcast to merge Paramount+ with their Peacock streaming service. The companies already operate the SkyShowtime joint venture in several markets in Europe.

A merged Paramount+/Peacock streaming service could be a winner, according to new consumer research reported today by Variety, 45% of US consumers say they would be interested in such a bundle. Analysis from consulting firm FTI Delta estimates a bundled service could bring in $1 Billion more than the current combined annual revenue of both services.

So if the deal with Skydance happens, it looks like some version of Paramount+ will survive. This would likely continue to be the primary home for original Star Trek television. Being part of a larger service could help ensure funding for more seasons and new Trek series and streaming movies as well.

Of course, none of this is finalized. The first step is for Skydance and Paramount Global to agree to a deal, and any such deal would have to be approved by the board. This can get tricky as the Skydance deal being contemplated is a rather complicated 2-step process, and current Paramount Global investors are expressing concerns over the deal structure being favorable to Shari Redstone, but not regular shareholders. There would also be scrutiny from regulators as well.

Paramount Could Soon See Billions Spent To Rebuild The Company Under New Leadership

Over the last week, news has been flying that Paramount is getting closer to a deal to be sold to or merge with Skydance. This comes as, for months now, Paramount has been in talks with multiple companies for a potential sale or merger. This includes talks with Warner Bros. Discovery, Appollo Global Management, and others. Some of these talks have gone well others like Warner Bros. Discovery have walked away from a possible merger with Paramount.

A few days ago Bloomberg reported that a tentative deal has been reached between Paramount and Skydance for a deal that would see the companies merge and Skydance would take a stake in Paramount.

Now Bloomberg says that if the deal happens, David Ellison will become the new head of the combined Paramount. He also reportedly plans to spend billions to rebuild Paramount. Before this could happen though Paramoutn and Skydance media would need to merge.

This comes after last week Variety reported that Paramount Global has turned down an offer to sell itself to Apollo Global Management for $27 billion. This offer was reportedly made over the weekend as a cash deal, but Shari Redstone, the majority owner of Paramount, declined to entertain the bid.

Exact details of the offer have not been disclosed but it is reported that the Redstone family who owns a majority of Paramount are perfering this Skydance deal over other offers.

This comes as The New York Times reportedly this week Paramount and Skydance Media are getting closer to a deal that would see the two companies merge. According to the report, Paramount and Skydance Media are working on a deal to give Skydance a 30-day window for exclusive talks as the two sides try to finalize a deal.

Exclusive windows like this are common in talks like this. Well, it does not guarantee that a deal will happen typically, windows like this happen when both sides think a deal is very possible.

Currently, Paramount Global is controlled by media executive Shari Redstone. Redstone also controls National Amusements, which owns 77% of Paramount’s voting shares. Reportedly, the Redstone family is also looking to sell their 77% ownership of Paramount. With that ownership, the Redstone family needs to be on board with any deal, and it has been reported that they are more interested in a deal like this than other deals, like the offer from Appollo Global Management to buy just the studios.

Any merger seems to need to be for the full Paramount company to include its cable TV networks, which include Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, and multiple movie theaters.

Talks between Paramount and Skydance have reportedly been happening since November 2023.

The news comes as the entertainment industry faces difficult times with cable TV viewership is declining and a majority of streamers struggling to achieve profitability. Paramount’s streaming service, Paramount+, is among the companies fighting to stay afloat.

Paramount Global Might Be Acquired By Skydance As Merger Talks Are Reportedly Underway

Over the last 24 hours, news has been flying that Paramount is getting closer to a deal to be sold to or merge with Skydance. This comes as, for months now, Paramount has been in talks with multiple companies for a potential sale or merger. This includes talks with Warner Bros. Discovery, Apollo Global Management, and others. Some of these talks have gone well others like Warner Bros. Discovery have walked away from a possible merger with Paramount.

Now Bloomberg is reporting that a tentative deal has been reached between Paramount and Skydance for a deal that would see the companies merge and Skydance would take a stake in Paramount.

This comes after yesterday Variety reported that Paramount Global has turned down an offer to sell itself to Apollo Global Management for $27 billion. This offer was reportedly made over the weekend as a cash deal, but Shari Redstone, the majority owner of Paramount, declined to entertain the bid.

Exact details of the offer have not been disclosed but it is reported that the Redstone family who owns a majority of Paramount are perfering this Skydance deal over other offers.

This comes as The New York Times reportedly this week Paramount and Skydance Media are getting closer to a deal that would see the two companies merge. According to the report, Paramount and Skydance Media are working on a deal to give Skydance a 30-day window for exclusive talks as the two sides try to finalize a deal.

Exclusive windows like this are common in talks like this. Well, it does not guarantee that a deal will happen typically, windows like this happen when both sides think a deal is very possible.

Currently, Paramount Global is controlled by media executive Shari Redstone. Redstone also controls National Amusements, which owns 77% of Paramount’s voting shares. Reportedly, the Redstone family is also looking to sell their 77% ownership of Paramount. With that ownership, the Redstone family needs to be on board with any deal, and it has been reported that they are more interested in a deal like this than other deals, like the offer from Appollo Global Management to buy just the studios.

Any merger seems to need to be for the full Paramount company to include its cable TV networks, which include Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, and multiple movie theaters.

Talks between Paramount and Skydance have reportedly been happening since November 2023.

The news comes as the entertainment industry faces difficult times with cable TV viewership is declining and a majority of streamers struggling to achieve profitability. Paramount’s streaming service, Paramount+, is among the companies fighting to stay afloat.

New Paramount Merger Scenario Has Skydance Reportedly Mulling All-Cash Bid For National Amusements

The Wall Street Journal reported this afternoon that Skydance, with backing from other investors, is considering an all-cash bid for National Amusements. The Shari Redstone-led company controls nearly 80% of Paramount shares and is the gatekeeper for any M&A deal.

Redstone became non-executive chair of Paramount’s board after spending years engineering a merger of CBS and Viacom, with the combined company rebranding as Paramount Global in 2022. She has reportedly grown increasingly interested in fielding offers for the company in recent months. Like many of its media peers, Paramount has lost significant value due to cord-cutting, streaming expenses and concerns about its debt.

Skydance and Paramount declined to comment. Reps from National Amusements and Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The future of Paramount has been a fixture of industry conversations over the past month or more. Sources first reported that Skydance and RedBird Capital were taking a look at National Amusements, with that news giving Paramount shares a big boost, though they have been relatively flat in the intervening weeks.

Paramount shares perked up a bit after the latest report, but have been flat today. At $14.25, they are worth less than half what they were after the Viacom-CBS merger closed in December 2019.

One of the backers of the current bid by David Ellison’s Skydance is Ellison’s father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, according to the WSJ report. The bid for control of National Amusements centers on Paramount Pictures, which Skydance has collaborated with extensively, financing several Mission: Impossible installments and 2022 megahit Top Gun: Maverick. The fit at Skydance of other core Paramount assets like CBS, its two-dozen-plus local TV stations and the cable TV assets is less clear.

One industry vet told Deadline the new report appeared to be “a little early” in the process given the extent of due diligence involved, including the data from Paramount+ and other streaming operations. “It’s not unusual for companies to leak these kinds of reports if they’re looking to boost their share price or get the attention of other potential suitors,” the source added.

In addition to its Paramount stake, National Amusements also runs a string of movie theaters. Byron Trott, Chairman and Co-CEO of BDT & MSD Partners, has been helping NAI evaluate its strategic options. Trott’s firm made a $125 million preferred equity investment in the company last spring.

While privately held firms like Skydance are circling Paramount, fellow media giant Warner Bros. Discovery has also expressed interest in a potential team-up. While WBD chief David Zaslav discussed a combo over lunch with Paramount CEO Bob Bakish just before Christmas, the talks have not progressed in the new year.