Shari Redstone receives fewest votes in Paramount board election

(Reuters) – Paramount Global controlling shareholder Shari Redstone received the fewest votes among other directors in the company’s board election, a filing on Friday showed.

Redstone received 32.2 million votes for her election to the board, the lowest out of the six candidates, while also getting the most votes against her election at more than 905,000.

Paramount’s annual shareholder meeting was held on Tuesday where the company’s co-CEOs put forth a restructuring plan that included $500 million in annualized cost cuts, potential asset sales and a possible joint venture or other partnerships for its Paramount+ streaming service.

The company has been grappling with a decline in its traditional television business, while the video streaming service it launched to capture viewers has yet to recover lost revenue.

Paramount and independent studio Skydance Media have been negotiating for months over a merger of the two companies.

Skydance CEO David Ellison reduced his initial $2.5 billion offer for National Amusements, which holds the Redstone family’s Paramount stake, to provide additional cash for the company’s nonvoting shareholders, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources.

Redstone was unhappy with the reduced offer, paving a way for rival bidders to make their case.