Paramount, Skydance Merger Deal Ends Redstone Era

Skydance Media and Paramount Global agreed to merge, the companies announced over the weekend, scripting a new chapter for one of Hollywood's oldest studios, Dawn Chmielewski reported for Reuters.

Skydance CEO David Ellison has partnered with Hollywood celebrity, Tom Cruise on many successful projects, namely "Top Gun: Maverick" and the "Reacher" series. I Photo: Skydance Media

The companies agreed to a two-step process in which Skydance and its deal partners will acquire National Amusements, which holds the Redstone family's controlling stake in Paramount, for $2.4 billion in cash.

Skydance will subsequently merge with Paramount, offering $4.5 billion in cash or stock to shareholders and providing an additional $1.5 billion for Paramount's balance sheet.

The deal represents the end of an era for Shari Redstone, whose father and late patriarch, Sumner Redstone, transformed the family's chain of drive-in movie theaters into a media empire that included Paramount Pictures, the CBS broadcast network, and cable television networks Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and MTV.

"Given the changes in the industry, we want to fortify Paramount for the future, while ensuring that content remains king," Redstone, chair of Paramount and National Amusements, said in a statement, citing a phrase her father coined.