Paramount Global Shares Surge 15% on Skydance Deal Talks

Paramount Global’s stock saw a sharp increase in the final moments of trading on Wednesday following news that Skydance Media, founded by Larry Ellison’s son David, is nearing a deal to acquire Shari Redstone’s controlling stake in the company. This comes after months of speculation about the struggling entertainment giant’s potential acquisition.

Paramount Global shares closed up nearly 15% at $13.52, a price not seen since February, but still well below the over $90 it reached in March 2021.

According to Bloomberg, Skydance is in talks with Paramount’s independent directors to purchase the Redstone family’s holding company, National Amusements, which owns nearly 80% of voting shares in Paramount. However, the terms of the deal remain unknown.

Contrary to Bloomberg’s report, sources told Variety that no sale agreement had been reached as of Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal reported that Skydance and Paramount have entered a 30-day exclusive negotiating window and have agreed on terms, pending Skydance’s ability to merge its movie studio with Paramount’s.

Both Skydance and Paramount have not responded to Forbes’ request for comment.

Paramount Global, formed by the merger of CBS and Viacom, has been the subject of several acquisition reports in recent months. Shari Redstone has received offers from firms like RedBird Capital, Apollo Global Management (which offered $11 billion for Paramount Studios), and Warner Bros. Discovery (which ended merger talks in late February). Acquiring National Amusements and its 80% voting share would be a significant step for any buyer looking to control Paramount and merge it with their own business.

The talks of a Paramount sale come amidst the company’s financial struggles. Paramount had a market capitalization of around $25 billion three years ago but has now fallen to $9.2 billion. The company also carries $14.6 billion in debt, according to FactSet, and reported streaming losses of $490 million in its fourth quarter, down from $575 million a year prior.

Merging Skydance and Paramount movie studios could involve complex dealmaking, as Skydance seeks to acquire most of Paramount’s voting shares instead of a majority stake outright, according to the Journal.