Shari Redstone halts Skydance Media-Paramount Global merger talks - WSJ

Investing.com - After more than six months of intermittent discussions, Shari Redstone has ceased negotiations with David Ellison's Skydance Media regarding a potential merger with Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA), according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Redstone, who controls Paramount Global via National Amusements Inc., is now reportedly focusing on deals with parties interested in acquiring National Amusements Inc.

Representatives for Skydance Media declined to comment, and a spokesperson for National Amusements Inc. did not respond to a request for comment.

Redstone, the daughter of the late media tycoon Sumner Redstone, and Ellison, the son of Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) founder Larry Ellison, ultimately failed to agree on the terms of a complex deal that would have handed control of Paramount Global to Skydance and its private-equity partners, RedBird Capital Partners and KKR.

Skydance's final offer, which was approved by a special committee at Paramount Global established to assess M&A proposals earlier this month, was presented to Redstone for consideration last weekend. Under the proposed terms, the Skydance consortium would have paid Redstone approximately $2 billion for National Amusements Inc. Also, current Paramount Class B shareholders (who do not possess voting rights) would have been given the option to sell nearly half their shares at $15 per share.

Furthermore, the Skydance group would have contributed $1.5 billion in cash to help reduce Paramount's debt. After the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance, the Skydance consortium would have owned around two-thirds of the shares in Paramount as a public company.

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