Paramount Reportedly Could Acquire Skydance

There are discussions underway regarding a potential deal between Paramount Global and Skydance Media, reports The Wall Street Journal. 

This deal would involve Paramount acquiring Skydance in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $5 billion. Here’s how it breaks down:

1. Paramount Global, the media conglomerate, would acquire the independent studio, Skydance Media.
2. In the first step of the transaction, National Amusements, which controls Paramount, would receive over $2 billion in cash.
3. Separately, Skydance could provide a substantial cash infusion to Paramount, the owner of Paramount Pictures film studio, to strengthen its balance sheet and help pay down debt.

By merging these two companies, the combined entity would gain more flexibility in managing franchises. While Shari Redstone, controlling shareholder of National Amusements, would receive cash, investors with nonvoting shares would receive stock in the combined company. The negotiations are more advanced than the offer from Apollo, and if successful, this deal would end Shari Redstone’s control of the media empire established by her late father, Sumner Redstone

Under the terms being discussed, Redstone’s firm would receive over $2 billion in cash in the first step of the transaction, people familiar with the situation said. Then Paramount Global, owner of broadcaster CBS, cable brands like Nickelodeon and MTV and the Paramount film studio, would acquire Skydance in an all-stock deal valued at around $5 billion.

A deal would require approval from a special committee of Paramount’s board, which has the responsibility of finding the best possible deal for all of the entertainment company’s shareholders. The company has been open to a deal for some time, but the rapid erosion of the cable TV business and difficulty of making money on streaming has complicated the sales pitch.