The Hollywood Reporter’s Post

Interesting that some of the scenarios from these analysts are the possibility of another merger with a broadcaster or to dump all linear assets in a separate holding company riddled with debt.

Unpacking 3 outcomes of the Paramount saga. Shareholder controversy vs regulatory & strategic uncertainty vs continual decline. I think I’d pick 2. Carving up the asset can simultaneously fit Sony’s strategy and mitigate antitrust action 1. Skydance: A complex deal that has divergent benefits for Shari Redstone and common shareholders - the latter diluted in second step below: 💰 Ellison ➡️ NAI ($2b) 📈 Paramount ➡️ Skydance ($5b Skydance valuation) 🤝 Ellison + PE ➡️ Paramount Newco 2. Apollo and Sony: Simpler $26b cash deal (Redstone gets $1.4b) with open questions around: 🇯🇵 Foreign ownership restrictions on US broadcast TV 🔫 Paramount+ given Sony’s arms dealer strategy 🧑⚖️ Antitrust scrutiny as Sony grows in size and strength 3. Status quo: Paramount share price is down nearly 50% in LTM and Charter renewal is upcoming. It’s hard to see an organic turnaround at this stage Quant analysis courtesy of MoffettNathanson LLC

Very curious to see how this one shakes out considering Allen’s past attempts to bid for ABC, Tegna, E.W Scripps, BET, and Paramount! Paramount Pictures and its surrounding production resources have tremendous potential if paired with the right buyer. CBS, with an NFL rights contract that runs through 2033, is likely the only linear TV asset that retains a fraction of the value Shari Redstone sees in it. The time to sell was 3-4 years ago; think Murdoch starting a bidding war for Fox’s theatrical assets and generating a 71.3 billion dollar sale price. Paramount’s best fit for a buyer is someone looking to replicate Sony’s “content dealer” license revenue model with streamers, or a PE firm with mountains of cash and large scale holdings in linear TV (looking at you Apollo). https://lnkd.in/guUM88_j

From the Journal: In recent weeks, Redstone has met with Skydance Media Chief Executive David Ellison and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick about a potential sale, according to people familiar with those talks. Meanwhile, Paramount is bracing for further cost cuts. The company has discussed laying off more than 1,000 workers early next year, people with knowledge of the discussions said.  A weaker-than-expected ad-sales market has caused the company to more aggressively cut costs to meet its promise to investors that it would deliver positive earnings growth in 2024. The company has been paring down its head count since earlier this year. Plus, the company’s carriage deals with two of the biggest cable companies in the country are set to expire in the coming months. That Redstone is discussing a sale of National Amusements after battling with her late father Sumner Redstone, his girlfriends and senior company executives for control, is a sign of the difficult choices #media executives are confronting. Paramount’s once-lucrative cable channels are in structural decline; #Hollywood is still recovering from months long actor and writers strikes that froze productions; and its flagship Paramount+ #streaming business continues to burn cash. She had hoped Paramount’s stock would rebound before entertaining offers. Paramount’s shares were down almost 12% this year to $15 a share Thursday, before a report from newsletter Puck that Skydance was discussing buying National Amusements. The stock closed on Monday at $16.24 per share.  Many of the potential buyers for Paramount, which owns cable networks such as Nickelodeon and BET and broadcast network CBS, are primarily interested in its movie studio. That is a nonstarter for Redstone, who is adamant that Paramount Pictures, the crown jewel of the company and an asset her father insisted on keeping, not be sold on its own. Buyers that have considered a play for National Amusements’ assets include billionaires, studios, streamers and private-equity companies. Netflix executives have broached the idea of a potential deal for some assets National Amusements controls as recently as this year, though conversations have cooled as the streamer focuses on its efforts to limit password sharing, according to people familiar with the situation. The streamer was particularly interested in Paramount’s movie studio, Paramount Pictures, home to hits such as “Mission Impossible,” and “Top Gun,” some of the people said.  Skydance’s Ellison, with its investor RedBird Capital Partners, also expressed interest in Paramount’s movie studio in recent weeks and is open to a deal for all of National Amusements to get it, those people said. Then there is Warner Bros. Discovery, whose chief executive David Zaslav has weighed the pros and cons of making a run at Paramount Redstone and #Paramount CEO Bob Bakish have so far been keen to only sell noncore assets and keep as much of the company intact as possible. 

for the nation's amusement The Paramount Pictures saga seems to have a life of its own inside my own LI algorithm (note to LI, I would love to tweak my own algo, that should be a premium feature, much better than AI convo starters)...... On again and off again, pending sales, deals, saga, office of the President, all the drama by a company who sells dramas for revenue. The stock, at time of writing, is worth $11.04 per share, market cap at $7.69B. Presumed streaming war winner (at at the least the present winner of the most recent battles), Netflix stock is at $649, market cap at $280B, 35x higher than Paramount. NVIDIA, the stock of the year, at $120 per share, market cap $2.98T, exceeds Paramount by 350x. So, why do we care what happens to Paramount? Just for shits and giggles, Oracle stock is trading at $124 per share, $340B in market cap. Seems like Paramount would be just a hobby for someone. Because it is good drama in an industry that sells drama, and that is about it. So, I would like to tweak my own algo and get more news from things that actually matter. As reported in another post, the "audience has moved on", I would like to as well. TheWrap https://lnkd.in/g2-AgezC

Skydance Set to Pay $8 Billion to Gain Control of Paramount The deal is not yet finalized, but David Ellison appears to have fended off Sony. Paramount: Now (finally) Under New Ownership! A special committee at the company has approved a deal that will merge Paramount Global with Skydance after David Ellison acquires National Amusements, Inc. (NAI) for about $2 billion. The National Amusements theater chain has a controlling interest in Paramount. Skydance Media CEO Ellison is paying for that control, and then he’ll make Paramount buy his production company. All told, it is expected to cost Ellison and his financial backers at RedBird Capital Partners in the ballpark of $8 billion to make this happen, as first reported by CNBC’s David Faber. On top of Shari Redstone‘s $2 billion for her family’s NAI, $4.5 billion more will go to current Paramount shareholders; another $1.5 billion in cash will be contributed to Paramount’s balance sheet. The numbers are pretty fresh and could still change some, a person with knowledge of the goings-on tells IndieWire. https://lnkd.in/gHhn3FaW

One of Hollywood's oldest companies, Paramount Global, has agreed to merge with independent film studio Skydance Media which is owned by the son of the founder of software and database giant, Oracle. What does this mean for the future of the veteran Film and TV business and what will they learn from Oracle’s approach to doing business. Perhaps it will be like this: 1.     If you want to watch the best Star Trek Movie (if you are wondering it’s The Undiscovered Country) you will now be required to purchase all the previous titles and prove that you have watched at least 5 of them within the first 180 days. 2.     You know that time you watched a clip on You Tube of Tom Cruise jumping off a cliff top on a motorbike? Theres a bill in the mail for that. 3.     Unless you have documented evidence that you have viewed at least 30 minutes of: ·        The Ten Commandments ·        Gunfight At the OK Corral ·        The Blob ·        Airplane Or ·        Footloose You will have to watch at least three episodes of Macgyver, or an entire season of Dynasty before accessing any further episodes of Frasier. #ITAM #licensing #licensingrules 😉 https://lnkd.in/eAuNuUxV

Edgar Bronfman Jr. submitted a $4.3 billion rival bid to acquire Paramount Global, challenging the existing offer. This unexpected move shakes up the media landscape, sparking excitement and uncertainty about the future of Paramount Global and the industry as a whole. what implications do you see for the industry? Join the conversation and share your insights! #MediaMergers #ParamountGlobal #EdgarBronfmanJr

From THR: The Wall Street Journal reported that Apollo Global Management, Inc. made an $11 billion offer just for #Paramount’s #film and television studio. That is higher than the company’s $7.7 billion market cap when the story was published, and the deal reportedly does not include Paramount’s other business lines, like CBS , BET or the former Viacom cable channels. The fate of Paramount has been the talk of #Hollywood in recent months, with a number of potential bidders circling the company, as well as National Amusements, the Redstone family company that has a controlling stake. Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital Partners and David Ellison of Skydance have held talks with National Amusements about buying that company (and thus gaining control of Paramount), while Byron Allen made a very public $14 billion bid for the entire company, albeit without financing details. Apollo’s bid is likely to be taken more seriously, with financing unlikely to be a problem. The question is what to do with the remaining businesses: Will there be buyers for the linear #TV networks or Paramount+? Perhaps Warner Bros. Discovery would make a play for CBS? Paramount Pictures

✅🖥️ Yahoo Finance / Bloomberg (4/8): “Ellison is in negotiations to take charge of Paramount Global, the media giant that owns CBS, MTV and Nickelodeon. He and his backers have agreed to pay a little more than $2B for National Amusements, the family company that controls Paramount. But that deal won’t close unless Ellison can merge his production company, Skydance Media, with Paramount, and a number of hurdles stand in his way, including how to satisfy the company’s other investors. Ellison and Paramount’s independent directors have committed to a month of exclusive talks, a sign both sides believe a definitive agreement is within reach. They have already settled on the general framework of a deal that would value the much-smaller Skydance at about $5B. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Skydance’s valuation in the deal. With 77% ownership of Paramount’s voting rights, Ms. Redstone will be getting a premium price for the shares held by National Amusements, which also owns a chain of movie theaters. But other Paramount shareholders could see a great deal of dilution if the company acquires Skydance at the price being discussed.” ⬇️ #lineartv #streamingtv #programmatic #cinema https://lnkd.in/eY8Cv354