The Paramount Global acquisition saga has another surprising twist late today, with the return of Skydance Media. New reports say that Shari Redstone’s National Amusements has agreed to a deal to be sold to Skydance and their RedBird Capital backers. No, you are not experiencing a time loop, the company that owns Star Trek looks to be headed to new management. There are also changes to Paramount+ (the streaming “home of Star Trek”) in the works.
Skydance is back
This new deal is a shocking development after Redstone rejected a deal that seemed all but certain earlier last month. According to reports from the trades and business press, Redstone’s NAI and Skydance have quietly continued their talks in recent weeks. Like with the previous deal, Skydance would buy out NAI and then merge with Paramount in a two-step process. According to Bloomberg, the new deal includes a bigger payout for Redstone as well as some form of indemnification for potential shareholder lawsuits, which were reportedly her big sticking points that killed the previous deal in June. Variety reports this new deal will now be reviewed by Paramount Global’s special committee overlooking mergers and acquisitions. That same committee had recommended the previous deal with Skydance in June
Paramount Global stock jumped close to 6% in late-day trading after the first reports of the new deal, jumping even more in after-hours trading. In June after previous talks fell apart the stock hit a record low since the CBS/Viacom re-merger in 2019.
With all the ups and downs over recent months, it would be premature to call a merger with Skydance a done deal, but this may be the closest the parties have come. Many Trek fans have seen Skydance as the best potential partner as they have partnered with Paramount on the recent Star Trek movies and they are committed to keeping Paramount Global intact. The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the new developments, noting that Skydance and NAI have agreed to a 45-day “go-shop period,” during which other potential bidders can make offers. Since late 2023 there have been a series of potential suitors for Paramount and/or NAI. The latest to enter the mix is longtime Hollywood exec Barry Diller, who used to run Paramount from 1974-1984.
Skydance’s David Ellison at the premiere of Star Trek Beyond in 2016
While all this is going on, the trio of CEOs who are currently running Paramount are continuing with their plans to cut costs and streamline the company, including selling off BET and other assets, possibly including the historic Paramount lot in Hollywood. And CNBC is reporting they are making good on their announced plan to find a joint venture partner for Paramount+ with Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly in talks to combine Paramount+ with their Max streaming service. Even if the deal with Skydance goes through, some kind of streaming joint venture still seems inevitable. This would have an impact on Star Trek as Paramount+ is the “home of Star Trek” (with the exception of Prodigy, with the second season just launched on Netflix).
This is a developing story. As always, TrekMovie will report on the latest in business news that impacts the franchise.
Keep up with all the corporate news that can impact Star Trek here at TrekMovie.com.
Early last month an imminent deal with Skydance was
