Paramount acquisition saga promises to be a ‘pathetic situation’

Paramount Global (PARA) is still up for acquisition as talks with Sony (SONY) and Apollo Global Management (APO) continue. Puck News founding partner William Cohan joins Market Domination Overtime to provide insight into the current media landscape and what’s happening at Paramount.

“I mean, I appreciate the creativity of the Ellison crew and Sony, Apollo, there’s probably a lot of good ideas coming out of them. But you know, Shari (Redstone) can just say no whenever she wants. And no one can do anything. And everyone knew there was nothing they could do about it because she was the majority shareholder with voting shares. Meanwhile, stocks continue to fall. This is a pathetic situation. And people like you know, Mario Gabelli – I don’t know what he was thinking, having owned these shares for decades and now he’s not going to get the payout he wanted,” Cohan tells Yahoo Finance.

For more expert insights and the latest market action, click here to watch the full episode of Market Domination Overtime.

This post was written by Nicholas Jacobino

Disclosure: Apollo Global Management is the parent company of Yahoo Finance.

Video transcription

I want to switch to another thing that you’ve been writing about a lot lately.

Hmm, maybe on the subject of self-deception, or maybe not, I don’t know, media directors.

Um, you’ve looked at this world a lot and obviously there’s a lot of action out there and Paramount is somehow still around and they’re having some of the problems of other media companies.

Um, what’s your main takeaway from land escape right now?

And, I mean, you’re always one of your real talents, Bill, do you have an ear for these types of managers or these types of characters, right?

I have character and I am a writer.

That’s why I love it when I find a great character.

Yes.

So how are these media figures feeling and facing these challenges now?

I mean, I think we have, this is big media, let’s call it, you know, and not unlike tech media, you know, big media, in my opinion, is in chaos right now.

You know, whether it’s Disney, Warner Brothers, Paramount, or uh, except for Netflix, which I guess is a technology media.

Uh, but he’s the one that everyone else keeps trying to chase if they can.

But I mean it is, their business model is completely different.

They have no problems with the old heritage.

I mean, you know, the parent, I mean, there’s a former guy to watch, and by the way, I worked on the original acquisition of Paramount by Viacom, uh, many years ago when I was at Lazard.

The story continues

So to see this M and the process drag on for so long, so publicly and so stupidly, uh II I, it’s just an amazing situation for me.

I mean, you know, you might ask yourself, why is this happening, so why do we in the media focus so much on the Paramount story?

It’s just because I think, you know, what Sumner Redstone built and then what Sherry took over and now what she finally decided to sell, you know, it’s obviously a bad time, a bad moment.

She can’t find suitable buyers, even though she’s been creative.

I mean, you know, credit to the Ellison team for being creative, and Sony Apollo probably has a lot of good ideas coming out of them.

But you know, Sherry can just say no whenever she wants and no one can do anything about it.

Yes, and everyone knew there was nothing they could do about it because she was the majority shareholder with voting shares.

So in the meantime, the company’s stock continues to fall.

It’s just a pathetic situation.

And people like, you know, Mary Gel Gabelli, I mean, I don’t know what he was thinking, having had this stock for decades.

He won’t get the pay he wanted, and he’s a smart guy.

So I think it’s really fascinating, even if there was a deal, Bill, what is your idea of ​​what they could do with Paramount?

Maybe Paramount couldn’t do it themselves at this point?

Yes.

Well, of course, you know, Ellison’s audience has many, many, you know, interesting ideas and they’re going to bring in, you know, a whole new management team and, you know, focus on the studio, the marriage of that with the Ellison studio, uh, Sony and Apollo, you know, who obviously owns this uh network.

You know, I think they have a lot of, uh, interesting stuff.

In my opinion, there are a lot of interesting and creative ideas.

It’s probably more of a strategy of, you know, cutting and stripping assets and, uh, you know, really transforming the business, you know, with the Ellison deal, you know, which will remain Paramount, will remain a public company.

So, you know, investors who obviously won’t get the payout that Sherry will get if this deal goes through will have the opportunity to participate.

If, you know, David Ellison and his company can, you know, turn this company around, but it’s, you know, relatively small.

I mean, Comcast is a $250 billion market.

You’ve got Disney, that’s the point.

I mean, you know, Netflix has 400. I mean, you know, it’s what, 10 billion, but it’s a drama, Bill, it’s a drama Succession Succession is over.

We need something to watch the drama.