by Dawn Chmielewski
(Reuters) – Paramount Global’s board approved a merger offer from Skydance Media on Sunday, a deal that could close as soon as hours and will mark a new era for the entertainment giant, which owns the U.S. film studio of the same name and is a pioneer in Hollywood.
Paramount, which also owns several television networks including CBS, has already collaborated with Skydance on several blockbuster films including, most recently, “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning.”
The deal will make Skydance founder David Ellison, 41, one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, but will also bring with it the challenge of turning around a struggling group that failed to successfully navigate the streaming shift.
Since the end of 2019, Paramount has lost nearly $17 billion in value, weighed down by the decline in its television activities that the launch of its streaming platform, Paramount+, has not yet compensated for.
The entertainment giant has also been plagued by tensions among its top executives. Chief Executive Bob Bakish was fired in April after a falling out with Shari Redstone, the heiress of Sumner Redstone’s group, over the merger with Skydance.
Bob Bakish was replaced by a trio of directors who proposed a $500 million cost-saving plan that included job cuts and asset sales – plans that could be shelved.
The deal comes after months of negotiations that appeared to have collapsed for good nearly a month ago when Redstone abruptly ended talks on June 11.
(Dawn Chmielewski; Jean Terzian)
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