Skydance Media’s offer to acquire Shari Redstone’s National Amusements and merge with Paramount Global’s film and TV studio would give David Ellison’s media giant a substantial ownership stake in the media conglomerate while allowing it to continue trading publicly, according to CNBC, citing four unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Skydance’s deal, which would raise new equity and include a consortium of investors including RedBird Capital, KKR and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, could have an ownership stake of around 45% to just over 50%, the outlet reports, noting those details are subject to change and have not been nailed down. National Amusements owns 77.3% of Paramount’s Class A (voting) common stock and 5.2% of its Class B common stock.
Larry Ellison would reportedly put up some of the new funding and potentially provide Paramount with access to artificial intelligence software and other data technology from Oracle. David Ellison would likely lead the new company, while former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell would also have a major leadership role. Additionally, the sources told CNBC that management would be open to divestitures of assets such as BET Media Group and Showtime.
Representatives for Paramount, National Amusements and Skydance declined to comment.
The latest details come as Skydance has entered exclusive talks with Paramount for 30 days in its effort to get a deal done after making a preliminary offer for an undisclosed amount in January.
Skydance, which is valued at more than $4 billion, first expressed an interest in Paramount’s portfolio of assets, which includes Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, CBS and cable networks like MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, in December.
In addition to Skydance, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish in December about a potential merger, though those talks have since been halted. Other potential suitors include Allen Media Group founder Byron Allen, who placed a $30 billion bid including debt for the company, and Apollo Global Management, which placed an $11 billion offer to buy Paramount’s film and TV studio, followed by a $26 billion offer for all of Paramount Global. Paramount Global’s special committee would have to approve any deal.
Paramount, whose market capitalization currently sits at $8.17 billion and reported long-term debt of $14.6 billion at the end of 2023, saw its shares fall more than 3% during Friday’s trading session. The stock is down 17% year to date and 43% in the past year.
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