Report: Viacom-CBS Merger Could Happen By Thanksgiving

Viacom shareholders believe they’ll have a merger agreement with CBS by Thanksgiving, sources told The NYPost.

National Amusements Inc., the controlling shareholder of both Viacom and CBS, said on September 29 that it sees the deal as an all-stock transaction with an at-market price.

Shari Redstone

Still, some Viacom shareholders are holding out hope for an extra serving of a sweetener for the deal — with the continuing possibility that China’s Wanda Group might still be waiting in the wings with a big check for Paramount or at least give the studio some financing on the upcoming slate.

Sources tell The Post that Aryeh Bourkoff’s LionTree had been helping Viacom look for ways to pay down debt by suggesting the sale of Viacom’s interest in premium TV and movie service Epix or Viacom’s Indian assets. Those proposals have been put on hold as merger talks proceed.

But Viacom shareholders are still angling for some kind of premium.

Meanwhile, sources say, controlling shareholder Shari Redstone — who helped organize the ouster of former Viacom Chief Executive Philip Dauman — has been spending a lot more time at the company’s 1515 Broadway offices.

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On the docket is finding someone to lead Viacom after the mid-November departure of acting CEO Tom Dooley.