Paramount Global's majority shareholder Shari Redstone has abruptly ended talks for a potential merger with David Ellison's production company Skydance Media, effectively killing the deal that was in the works for several months.
Redstone, the daughter of late media tycoon Sumner Redstone, was widely expected to sell her family's stake to Ellison as part of a $2.25 billion deal for the family's holding company, National Amusements. It was one element of a complex $8 billion transaction that would have resulted in the merger of Paramount and Skydance.
Here are some of the main events leading up to the deal talks falling through:
Year Events
December CBS Corp (NYSE:CBS_old) and Viacom merge to form ViacomCBS (NASDAQ:PARA),
2019 combining media mogul Sumner Redstone's media units
13 years after a split. ViacomCBS would be later
renamed as Paramount Global
ViacomCBS acquires a 49% stake in film studio
Miramax from BeIN Media Group for $375 million
September ViacomCBS rebrands a CBS streaming service as
2020 Paramount+ and launches it in international markets
Sells CNET Media Group to Red Ventures
for $500 million
November ViacomCBS agrees to sell CBS Studio Center for
2021 $1.85 billion to private firms
February ViacomCBS changes its name to Paramount Global
2022
December Chief executives of Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) and
2023 Paramount reportedly in talks over a potential deal
between the two companies
January Skydance CEO David Ellison reportedly explores an
2024 all-cash bid to acquire Paramount parent National
Amusements
January Media entrepreneur Byron Allen submits a $30
2024 billion offer for Paramount, including debt and
equity
March 2024 India's Reliance Industries agrees to buy
Paramount's entire 13.01% stake in local
entertainment network Viacom18 Media for about $517
million
March 2024 Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) reportedly offers to buy
Paramount Pictures film studio for $11 billion
April 2024 Paramount's board reportedly agrees to enter into
exclusive merger talks with Skydance
April 2024 Paramount replaces CEO Bob Bakish with an office of
CEO comprising CBS President and CEO George Cheeks,
Paramount Pictures studio chief Brian Robbins, and
Chris McCarthy, head of Showtime, MTV and other
networks
June 2024 Edgar Bronfman Jr, former chairman of Warner Music,
reportedly expresses interest in buying Paramount's
controlling shareholder National Amusements
June 2024 Shari Redstone abruptly ends talks with Skydance
