Streaming partnerships and asset sale talks gaining momentum, CEOs say

The Paramount Global-Skydance merger is on track to close in the first half of 2025, and “in the meantime, the Skydance and Redbird teams support our strategic plan, and we continue to operate as usual,” Chris McCarthy — who runs Paramount with Brian Robbins and George Cheeks — said on a call following quarterly earnings on Thursday.

The figure includes a projected $500 million in cost cuts, a significant portion of the layoffs of about 15% of Paramount’s workforce that began today and will last through the end of the year, and asset sales.

David Ellison’s Skydance, backed by Oracle co-founder (and his father) Larry Ellison, and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital struck a deal with Shari Redstone-controlled Paramount in July. It included a 45-day waiting period for another bidder to emerge, but there doesn’t appear to be any movement on that front. They had until 11:59 p.m. ET on Aug. 21.

RELATED: Paramount Global Steels Prepares for New Round of Layoffs as Second-Quarter Results Come and Skydance’s ‘Go-Shop’ End Nears

The transaction will then need regulatory approval to complete.

Par could look a little different then. The CEO trio noted active discussions about potential strategic partners for Paramount+ and a primary focus on growing Par’s balance sheet by “optimizing” its asset mix, Cheeks said — referring to asset sales.

“We are aggressively evaluating our portfolio with the goal of improving our balance sheet,” he said. “The set of assets that make up Paramount Global today was built through linear growth. And while we have strong brands and businesses, we need to transform our portfolio to best compete in the future.”

He said the “assets under consideration are clearly strong and have exciting futures, but they would be better off on their own or as the core of another business.” He didn’t name any. BET, which was put up for sale and then delisted by former CEO Bob Bakish, is expected to be one of the assets on the list.

There has been talk of partners and divestitures before, but the language used today was a bit more forceful than in the past. Cheeks promised an update in a future merger.