The two sides have reached a preliminary deal to create a new Hollywood giant, just weeks after Paramount’s controlling shareholder and Skydance abruptly ended merger talks, four people familiar with the talks said Tuesday.
The deal still has to be approved by a special committee of Paramount’s board of directors, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Paramount — the parent company of CBS, MTV and Nickelodeon — and Skydance, the up-and-coming movie studio that helped produce “Top Gun: Maverick,” stopped talks in June ahead of a scheduled vote on the merger. While the two sides agreed on financial terms, Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder through its parent company, National Amusements, clashed with Skydance in the final weeks of negotiations.
But the two sides have continued to talk, and now a Paramount board committee will assess whether the new terms will be palatable enough to shareholders, some of whom pushed back significantly against the last proposed deal. One potential issue to focus on will be the extent of protection afforded to National Amusements in the event of shareholder litigation.
In this latest deal, National Amusements’ equity will be valued at $1.75 billion, up slightly from $1.7 billion in the last incarnation of the deal, three of the people said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.