By Don Chmielewski
Businessman David Ellison is one step closer to taking control of Paramount Global after a special committee voted on Sunday to back a merger with his company Skydance Media, a source close to the deal told Reuters.
The proposed deal is likely to be approved by Paramount’s full board, including non-executive chairman Shari Redstone, who last week reached a tentative agreement to sell the family’s controlling stake in Paramount to Ellison and his partners in the deal.
A final agreement is expected to be announced as soon as Monday.
The proposed merger would bring together Paramount, with its eponymous film studios and its television networks CBS, MTV and Nickelodeon, with its financial partner in several major film releases, including “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning” and “Star Trek Into Darkness.”
The deal comes weeks after Redstone abruptly called off negotiations with Skydance on June 11.
Behind the scenes, Ellison reached out to Redstone about a week later and talks quietly resumed, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.
Skydance has increased its offer to buy the family’s holding company, National Amusements, which controls 77 percent of Paramount’s voting stock. The new offer would net the Redstone family $1.75 billion, one of the people said. The new offer also increased legal protection from potential shareholder lawsuits, the person said.