Is Shari Redstone Pushing A Viacom-CBS Remerger?

Vanity Fair composite

The NY Post is reporting Massachusetts Judge George Phelan is on the verge of a decision about whether Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman can overturn his ouster from the Sumner Redstone family trust and the National Amusements Inc. board, and keep his current position.

Phelan’s decision will have a strong influence on how controlling shareholder Shari Redstone plays her poker hand.

The master plan is obvious to The Post's Claire Atkinson: Install a new Viacom board and dump Dauman to stop a selloff of Paramount, which is viewed as a poison pill against a potential acquisition of Viacom by an outside company.

In addition to being open to a sale, the National Amusements team is game-planning a remerger with CBS. In the past, CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves has been highly vocal about his distaste for such a move. But he didn’t say anything of the sort at the recent Allen & Co. mogul retreat. Our sources say Moonves is not quite so against it as he was.

“Never say never,” said an associate. The question is, can Shari Redstone make it happen regardless?

Putting the two entities back together is a no-brainer, as Rich Greenfield of BTIG notes: “If Viacom doesn’t have a shield, they’re at risk,” meaning distributors could be tempted to drop its channels. “Everybody needs a shield, but CBS isn’t shielding anyone.”