Skydance Reaches a New Merger Deal With Paramount

Paramount Studios Bronson Gate, Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Paramount Studios Bronson Gate, Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Photo by Hannah Wernecke on Unsplash

Production firm Skydance Media has struck a new deal to acquire entertainment conglomerate Paramount Global according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The news comes just several weeks after Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, walked out of a previous agreement with Skydance.

Reportedly, Skydance will buy Redstone’s National Amusements, a company that holds 77% of voting shares in Paramount, for $1.75 billion. After the deal gets approved, Skydance plans to merge with Paramount.

The agreement between the two sides also contains a “go-shop period” provision. This provision gives National Amusements a period of 45 days in which it can shop itself to other interested parties and possibly find a new deal.

Film producer David Ellison, son of Oracle’s co-founder Larry Ellison, founded Skydance in 2006. The company specializes in various forms of media, including films and TV shows like Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, World War Z, Top Gun: Maverick, and Jack Ryan.

Paramount, on the other hand, is an iconic Hollywood brand behind classic films like The Godfather, Titanic, and Indiana Jones. It also owns broadcaster CBS and several other channels like MTV, as well as the streaming service Paramount+.

After the news about the rekindled merger deal with Skydance came out, Paramount Global’s stock jumped 6.90% to close at $11.46.

Tom P
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