Paramount Inches Closer to Skydance – VideoAge International

After weeks of speculations, one could say Paramount is “closer to close” the deal after the company received a revised offer from Skydance to buy National Amusements, and a special Board committee agreed to the terms of the deal.

The merger presents a two-step process: First Skydance would buy with cash (it’s not clear if for $2 billion or $3 billion) Shari Redstone’s National Amusements — which owns 77 percent of the voting shares of Paramount. Second, Skydance would merge with Paramount in an all-stock deal at a valuation of $5 billion.

Skydance investors include Larry Ellison, Oracle co-founder and father of David Ellison, the CEO of Skydance, who has offices on the Paramount studio lot; and private-equity firm Red-Bird Capital Partners. The investors have also agreed to put additional cash to pay down Paramount’s debt.

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