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The manager of Paramount Global’s shareholders held discussions about the sale of the famous Hollywood studio and other assets to Skydance, the production company behind the scenes. Top shot: Maverickaccording to people familiar with the company controlled by Shari Redstone.
Skydance, whose shareholders include the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners, has emerged as a major contender to take over Redstone’s National Amusements, which owns Paramount.* the two companies made a series of movies together.
The talks were in their early stages and there was no certainty they would lead to a deal, two experts said. Other parties were also interested in acquiring some of Paramount’s assets, they added.
Skydance was the favorite at Paramount’s Hollywood studio, people familiar with the New York company said. But other assets, including TV networks like CBS and its Paramount Plus franchise, can be acquired and sold to other customers.
Skydance declined to comment. RedBird did not respond to a request for comment. Paramount declined comment.
Founded in 2010 by David Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Skydance has combined several blockbusters with Paramount, including Tom Cruise movies. top gun and the Mission: Impossible movies. They are others Mission: Impossible the film should be released in theaters in 2025.
The Ellison family is the largest shareholder in Skydance, which will have little problem raising capital for a transaction. In October 2022, the value of Skydance jumped to $ 4 billion after a $ 400 million investment led by RedBird, along with the Ellison family, KKR and Tencent.
Paramount also received a boost in 2022 when Warren Buffett announced that he had bought a stake of about 75 million shares at $28 per share – above the current price.
But shares have risen 39 percent in the past month on speculation that the company is exploring a sale. The stock rose 12 percent to $16.85 on Friday.
Redstone has long said the company, whose roots lie in a movie theater business founded by his grandfather, was not for sale. But last month Paramount’s board of directors approved “golden parachute” compensation for CEO Bob Bakish and other senior executives, prompting speculation that he was open to offers.
Like other big and diverse companies, Paramount’s traditional TV business has collapsed and its media business has lost billions.
Rich Greenfield, an analyst at LightShed Partners, said in a recent study that Paramount faced a “very difficult future”.
“Or . . . Shari Redstone wants to sell it, it’s hard for us to see how buying it all or putting it together isn’t the best outcome for Paramount,” he wrote.
But he added that he expected Redstone to take other steps before selling the studio, including reducing costs, reducing the size of its expectations for Paramount Plus and increasing licensing deals with other streams.
Talks between Paramount and Skydance were first reported by Puck.
*This article has been edited to clarify that the bid could be made for Paramount’s owner, National Amusements.