Paramount takeover talks heat up again amid reports of Skydance-Redstone deal

(Reuters) – National Amusements has reached a preliminary deal to sell its controlling interest in Paramount Global to Skydance, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Shari Redstone’s National Amusements re-engaged with the David Ellison-led production studio after abruptly ending deal talks last month, while fielding takeover interest from other interested parties.

Here are the key events leading up to the preliminary deal:

Year Events

December CBS Corp (NYSE:) and Viacom merge to form ViacomCBS (NASDAQ:),

2019 combining media mogul Sumner Redstone’s media

units 13 years after a split. ViacomCBS would be

later renamed as Paramount Global

ViacomCBS acquires a 49% stake in film studio

Miramax from BeIN Media Group for $375 million

September ViacomCBS rebrands a CBS streaming service as

2020 Paramount+ and launches it in international

markets

Sells CNET Media Group to Red

Ventures for $500 million

November ViacomCBS agrees to sell CBS Studio Center for

2021 $1.85 billion to private firms

February ViacomCBS changes its name to Paramount Global

2022

December Chief executives of Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:) and

2023 Paramount reportedly in talks over a potential

deal between the two companies

January Skydance CEO David Ellison reportedly explores an

2024 all-cash bid to acquire Paramount parent National

Amusements

January Media entrepreneur Byron Allen submits a $30

2024 billion offer for Paramount, including debt and

equity

March 2024 India’s Reliance Industries agrees to buy

Paramount’s entire 13.01% stake in local

entertainment network Viacom18 Media for about

$517 million

March 2024 Apollo Global Management (NYSE:) reportedly offers to buy

Paramount Pictures film studio for $11 billion

April 2024 Paramount’s board reportedly agrees to enter into

exclusive merger talks with Skydance

April 2024 Paramount replaces CEO Bob Bakish with an office

of CEO comprising CBS President and CEO George

Cheeks, Paramount Pictures studio chief Brian

Robbins, and Chris McCarthy, head of Showtime,

MTV and other networks

June 2024 Edgar Bronfman Jr, former chairman of Warner

Music, reportedly expresses interest in buying

Paramount’s controlling shareholder National

Amusements

June 2024 Shari Redstone abruptly ends talks with Skydance

July 2024 Barry Diller’s digital media conglomerate IAC

reportedly explores bid for Paramount and enters

into non-disclosure agreements with National

Amusements

July 2024 National Amusements reportedly reaches a

preliminary deal to sell its controlling interest

in Paramount to Skydance