Paramount’s merger: all the news on the drawn-out takeover drama

It’s official: Skydance Media’s deal to purchase CBS parent company Paramount Global for $8 billion is complete, and incoming chairman / CEO David Ellison’s first order of business is a massive restructuring.

In an open letter about his plans for Paramount, a Skydance Corporation (the merged companies’ new name), Ellison announced that, going forward, the business will be split into three distinct units: studios, direct-to-consumer, and TV media. Ellison explained that the restructuring is meant to boost efficiency as the new company prepares to transition its entire enterprise to a single technology platform for the first time.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved Skydance’s $8 billion purchase of CBS-owner Paramount after the companies agreed to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs but feature a “diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum.”

In light of the Trump administration’s critiques of CBS’s alleged anti-conservative bias — including collecting a $16 million settlement over the president’s lawsuit over an allegedly deceptively edited video of then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes — the companies’ commitment to address bias in the lawsuit likely means featuring more conservative programming. Skydance agreed to employ an ombudsman for at least two years, “who will receive and evaluate any complaints of bias or other concerns involving CBS.”

Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to resolve President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against its subsidiary CBS, clearing a path for the administration to approve the media giant’s multibillion-dollar merger with Skydance Media.

In a statement seen by CNN on Tuesday night, Paramount said the settlement payment is inclusive of Trump’s legal fees and costs, and that the money will be allocated to his future presidential library instead of being paid to Trump directly. The sum is below the $10 billion (later increased to $20 billion) in damages sought by Trump when he filed the lawsuit in October, alleging that CBS News had deceptively edited a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris to mislead voters during the presidential elections.

A law professor cited by CBS News called Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris “...so ill grounded that it comes close to being sanctionable as frivolous.” But now, the The Wall Street Journal reports that executives at CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, have discussed settling the suit while “gaming out options to reduce friction with the incoming administration” ahead of a government review of its merger with Skydance.

The paper reports that incoming FCC chairman and censor-in-chief Brendan Carr warned execs last year that presidential dissatisfaction with CBS News will make a review tougher. He’s also publicly displayed that view, saying during a Fox News interview in November, “...CBS has a transaction before the FCC. I’m pretty confident that news distortion complaint over the CBS 60 Minutes transcript is something that is likely to arise in the context of the FCC’s review of that transaction.”

If you didn’t know Paramount Global is set to merge with Skydance, then the logo included in their recent investor presentation would like to share an important update. Under its traditional mountain and stars, it shouts PARAMOUNT, using the all-caps styling and arched text of the Skydance logo instead of a more gently whispered Paramount.

It’s... not good. But, like the very bad Warner Bros. Discovery logo that appeared in 2021 when their merger was announced but disappeared by the time the deal closed a year later, it’s unlikely this is the final version of whatever redesign Paramount might cook up. If and when the deal gets done, the logo at that time probably won’t look like some poor shmoe had to jam out a quick synergistic symbol twenty minutes before an investor presentation.

Paramount Global has agreed to merge with Skydance Media in a deal that will see the joint enterprise, temporarily dubbed “New Paramount,” valued at approximately $28 billion.

As part of the two-step agreement announced on Sunday, Paramount Chair Shari Redstone (the daughter of Sumner Redstone) will sell National Amusements — which holds her family’s controlling stake in Paramount — for $2.4 billion. Skydance will then merge with Paramount, investing $8 billion to purchase Paramount’s shares and pay off some of the company’s balance sheet. Bloomberg reports that Paramount has $14.6 billion of debt as of March, partially attributed to streaming losses and a decline in the company’s broadcast and cable TV business.

Following weeks of discussions, Paramount’s potential merger deal with Skydance has fallen apart, as reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal. In a statement on Tuesday, Paramount’s parent company, National Amusements, said the companies couldn’t “reach mutually acceptable terms” for its deal with Skydance Media.

One possible issue may have been Skydance’s decision not to include legal protection that would shield National Amusements head Shari Redstone from a lawsuit filed by shareholders, according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter. The WSJ reports that now, Redstone is “likely” to pursue a sale of National Amusements without trying to merge Paramount with another company.

Paramount has removed Bob Bakish as CEO — and it doesn’t have plans to fill the role. The company announced the news as part of its earnings results on Monday, which will leave Paramount reliant on a committee made up of three executives.

The new Office of the CEO consists of George Cheeks, the president and CEO of CBS; Chris McCarthy, the president and CEO of Showtime, MTV Entertainment Studios, and Paramount Media Networks; and Brian Robbins, the president and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon. Reports first emerged of Bakish’s potential departure on Friday.