Paramount Reportedly Close to New Skydance Acquisition Deal… Again – TrekMovie.com

The Paramount Global takeover saga takes another surprising twist late last night, with the return of Skydance Media. New reports say Shari Redstone’s National Amusements has agreed to a deal to sell Skydance and its backers RedBird Capital. No, you’re not experiencing a time loop; the company that owns Star Trek is apparently headed to new management. Changes are also in the works at Paramount+ (the streaming “home of Star Trek”).

Skydance is back

The new deal is a shocking development after Redstone rejected a deal that seemed all but certain early last month. According to reports in the trade and business press, NAI and Redstone’s Skydance have been quietly continuing talks in recent weeks. As with the previous deal, Skydance will buy NAI and then merge with Paramount in a two-step process. According to Bloomberg, the new deal includes a larger payout for Redstone, as well as some form of compensation for potential shareholder lawsuits, which were reportedly its main sticking points that killed the previous deal in June. Variety reports that the new deal will now be reviewed by Paramount Global’s special committee overseeing mergers and acquisitions. The same committee recommended the previous deal with Skydance in June

Paramount Global shares rose nearly 6% late on early reports of a new deal, and even more in after-market trading. Shares hit a record low since the CBS/Viacom reunification in 2019 in June after previous talks fell through.

Given all the ups and downs of the past few months, it would be premature to call the Skydance merger a done deal, but this may be the closest the parties have come to getting one. Many Trek fans consider Skydance the best potential partner, given their partnership with Paramount on recent Star Trek films and their determination to keep Paramount Global intact. The Wall Street Journal was first to report the news, noting that Skydance and NAI have agreed to a 45-day “shopping period” during which other potential bidders can submit offers. A series of potential suitors for Paramount and/or NAI have emerged since late 2023. The latest to join the ranks is longtime Hollywood executive Barry Diller, who led Paramount from 1974 to 1984.

Skydance’s David Ellison at the 2016 Star Trek Beyond premiere

While all this is going on, the trio of CEOs currently running Paramount are continuing their plans to cut costs and streamline the company, including selling BET and other assets, likely including Paramount’s historic Hollywood plot of land. And CNBC is reporting that they are moving forward with their announced plan to find a joint venture partner for Paramount+ with Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly in talks to combine Paramount+ with its Max streaming service. Even if a deal with Skydance goes through, some form of streaming joint venture still seems inevitable. This would have implications for Star Trek, as Paramount+ is the “home of Star Trek” (except Miracle(Season two just dropped on Netflix).

This is a developing story. As always, TrekMovie will report on the latest business news that impacts the franchise.

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An imminent deal with Skydance was announced early last month