For months, Paramount’s controlling shareholder and Skydance sought to seal a merger that would transform the media industry, before those talks ground to a sudden halt in June.
Now, just weeks later, the two sides have reached a preliminary deal to merge, four people familiar with the negotiations said.
If they win that approval, the deal will combine Paramount — the parent company of CBS, MTV and Nickelodeon — and Skydance, the up-and-coming movie studio that helped produce “Top Gun: Maverick,” into a new giant in Hollywood.
Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount through her stake in its parent company, National Amusements, is part of the family that has run the media conglomerate for decades.
The new company would be backed instead by big-ticket investors like the private-equity firm RedBird and David Ellison, son of the Oracle founder Larry Ellison.
Persons:
Skydance, Shari Redstone, David Ellison, Larry Ellison
Organizations:
Paramount, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, National, Oracle
Locations:
Hollywood