Paramount, Skydance near $8B deal: reports

Agreement for Skydance's purchase of Paramount could be announced in days

Paramount Global is hammering out the last details of an agreement to be purchased by Skydance Media in an $8 billion deal, according to multiple reports.

FOX Business' Charlies Gasparino reported last week that Skydance and its backers were said to be in the final stages of negotiating the purchase of Paramount, and that a deal could be finalized in two weeks.

Paramount Global

The Paramount logo is displayed at Columbia Square along Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, California, on March 9, 2023. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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Paramount Global Class B

Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that Skydance had sweetened its offer in a revised proposal to buy National Amusements from Shari Redstone, and merge with Paramount.

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Then on Monday, CNBC reported that the terms have been decided and could be announced in the coming days. According to the outlet, the total deal is valued at $8 billion, with Redstone receiving $2 billion for National Amusements.

Shari Redstone NYC

Shari Redstone attends Paramount Pictures & DreamWorks Pictures host the premiere of "Ghost in the Shell" at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on March 29, 2017, in New York City. (Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The reports of a deal come after Sony Pictures and private equity firm Apollo Global Management offered to buy Paramount in an all-cash deal, but sources told Gasparino that Paramount had become increasingly concerned that that proposal "would not pass regulatory muster."

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Paramount is currently being led by a newly established Office of the CEO led by a trio of three senior executives, who replaced former Chief Executive Bob Bakish upon his departure in late April.

Bob Bakish walking outdoors

Bob Bakish stepped down as CEO of Paramount Global in late April. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Sources told FOX Business at the time that Bakish clashed with Redstone, the non-executive chair, over the terms of the deal, which were reportedly unfavorable to common shareholders.

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Redstone's father, Sumner Redstone, built the company's media empire, which began as National Amusements in Massachusetts, and made his family billionaires. He was also considered one of the most influential media titans of his time. 

Sumner Redstone

Sumner Redstone  (Mario Ruiz/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images) / Getty Images)

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FOX Business' Charles Gasparino contributed to this report.