Media mogul Shari Redstone is in talks to sell controlling interest in Paramount parent National Amusements to media and entertainment company Skydance, Puck and the New York Times reported Sunday.
Although Puck first floated the news a few weeks ago, a report from Deadline late Thursday, sent shares of Paramount Global up 13% on Friday.
The outlet said Skydance and private-equity firm RedBird Capital were kicking the tires on National Amusements, which has a 77% stake in Paramount.
Redstone — the daughter of late Paramount boss Sumner Redstone — has held talks with Skydance in recent weeks, according to The Times, which added that it was unclear if a deal would be reached.
Skydance, which is led by David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, is one of Hollywood’s top independent studios, and has produced Paramount blockbusters such as “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning,” “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” RedBird, which is owned by Gerry Cardinale, is a financial backer of Skydance.
Although Redstone has been trying to unload some of Paramount’s assets, such as a majority stake in BET Media Group, selling off the entire company, which includes CBS, is a reversal for the media boss.
She had pushed for National Amusements’ CBS and Viacom to merge in 2019, which led to the creation of Paramount Global.
Deadline reported that Skydance would be more interested in Paramount’s intellectual property which includes “Titanic,” “The Godfather” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” as well as its movie studio, and could look to sell its TV assets, including CBS, MTV and Nickelodeon.
According to the Times, Redstone also held talks earlier this year with Amazon, Apple and Netflix.
Chatter of big media deals are reigniting as traditional TV companies are struggling to make enough money in the streaming age.
NBCUniversal’s Comcast could be looking to grow its portfolio, while Warner Bros. Discovery could be a potential seller.
Disney CEO Bob Iger recently floated the idea of selling a stake in ESPN, as well as selling off ABC, but he has recently downplayed those comments.
Paramount declined to comment. Reps for Redstone and Skydance did not immediately return requests for comment.
