Pending regulatory approval, it’s on — the Redstones no longer control Paramount.
A special Paramount committee has approved an $8 billion bid from David Ellison's Skydance Media to take over Paramount Global. The move is expected to infuse much-needed capital into the struggling Hollywood studio, which has lost 70% of its enterprise value since 2019.
The deal values the company — now dubbed “New Paramount” — at around $28 billion.
The transaction will include Skydance paying $2.4 billion for National Amusements, the theatrical distribution company that late patriarch Sumner Redstone turned into a holding giant for his media and entertainment empire.
Skydance and Paramount Global will then merge amid an all-stock transaction valued at $4.75 billion.
Notable: Former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell, fired last year after the revelation of an extramarital affair with a co-worker, has been named president of Paramount.
The deal was approved just six days after it was reported that Ellison was back in the game for Paramount, after National Amusements chief Shari Redstone called off an earlier proposal last month.
Sumner Redstone, who died in 2020, built the erstwhile Viacom into a media powerhouse, with cash-cow media networks such as MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and BET combining hit factory Paramount Pictures — and later, the CBS Television Network — to create one of the most powerful hit factories in Hollywood.
But as these linear operations have hit the hard times, streaming business Paramount Plus has become an anchor on the balance sheet, losing over $1 billion every year.
“In 1987, my father, Sumner Redstone, acquired Viacom and began assembling and growing the businesses today known as Paramount Global,” Shari Redstone said in announcing the deal Sunday. “He had a vision that ‘content was king’ and was always committed to delivering great content for all audiences around the world. That vision has remained at the core of Paramount’s success and our accomplishments are a direct result of the incredibly talented, creative, and dedicated individuals who work at the company. Given the changes in the industry, we want to fortify Paramount for the future while ensuring that content remains king. Our hope is that the Skydance transaction will enable Paramount’s continued success in this rapidly changing environment. As a longtime production partner to Paramount, Skydance knows Paramount well and has a clear strategic vision and the resources to take it to its next stage of growth. We believe in Paramount and we always will.”
