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Goodbye to the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media: Shari Redstone halts negotiations at the last minute

The president of National Amusements reported in a statement that they rejected Skydance's offer to acquire the conglomerate for $2.25 billion.

Sede del edificio de Paramount Global situado en Nueva York.

(Cordon Press)

Published by
Rosana Rábago Sainz

The long-awaited merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media will not happen. The president of National Amusements (NAI), Shari Redstone, stopped negotiations at the last minute and reported in a statement that she rejected Skydance's offer to acquire the media conglomerate for $2.25 billion:

The company announced that they have not been able to reach mutually acceptable terms regarding the potential transaction with Skydance Media for the acquisition of a controlling stake in NAI. NAI supports the recently announced strategic plan being executed by Paramount’s Office of the CEO as well as their ongoing work and that of the Company’s Board of Directors to continue to explore opportunities to drive value creation for all Paramount shareholders.

A few minutes later, the Paramount Global board of directors confirmed the news. It did so in a statement, which was accessed by The Hollywood Reporter, assuring that it "did not vote on any potential transaction" this Tuesday, the day the deal was scheduled to be closed:

The Special Committee met on Tuesday to discuss progress of discussions regarding a potential transaction with Skydance Media. At that time, the Special Committee was informed by a representative of National Amusements, Inc. that it did not have an agreement on a deal with Skydance Media and didn’t anticipate a path forward on this transaction. The Special Committee did not vote on any potential transaction.

What will happen now with Paramount Global?

The news comes after Skydance Media beat Sony Pictures, The Weather Channel owner, mogul Byron Allen, and even Warner Bros. Discovery who also tried unsuccessfully to acquire Paramount Global and thus save the company that holds $15.6 billion in debt.

It seems that, for the moment, Redstone (the owner of Paramount Global) will try to sell National Amusements (NAI) without having to merge Paramount Global with another company, reported The Wall Street Journal. Guggenheim analyst Michael Morris told THR that this idea seems to be taking shape: "Without the proposed merger with Skydance as part of the deal, Paramount appears increasingly likely to go it alone," said the expert.

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