Paramount, Skydance Agree on $8B Merger Terms: Report 

Paramount Global and Skydance Media are said to have reached an agreement on merger terms after months of negotiations. 

A committee of Paramount’s independent directors and Skydance’s buying group, which comprises private equity firms RedBird Capital Partners and KKR, had reached an agreement, CNBC reported.  

The transaction is awaiting final approval from Shari Redstone, head of National Amusements, the holding company that holds 77% of Paramount’s voting shares. According to CNBC, the nearly $8 billion acquisition will be officially announced within the next 24 to 48 hours. 

Skydance plans to buy National Amusements for almost $2 billion, according to the latest proposed agreement first published by The Wall Street Journal. Skydance, led by David Ellison, the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, has also agreed to buy nearly half of Paramount’s non-voting shares at $15 per share for a total of $4.5 billion, representing a roughly 26% premium over the stock’s closing price on Friday. 

In exchange, shareholders will own equity in the newly merged company. 

Skydance and its backers will also inject $1.5 billion in cash into Paramount’s balance sheet to help pay down debt. After the transaction closes Skydance will own around 66% of the new firm, with non-voting stockholders owning the remaining one-third.