Paramount, Skydance to merge and end Redstone family’s reign in Hollywood
Al Jazeera
Deal also signals rise of new power player, David Ellison, Skydance founder and son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison.
The entertainment giant Paramount will merge with Skydance, closing out a decades-long run by the Redstone family in Hollywood and injecting desperately needed cash into a legacy studio that has struggled to adapt to a shifting entertainment landscape.
The companies announced their agreement to merge late on Sunday.
They laid out a two-step process through which Skydance and its partners will acquire National Amusements, which holds the Redstone family’s controlling stake in Paramount, for $2.4bn in cash.
Skydance will subsequently merge with Paramount, offering $4.5bn in cash or stock to shareholders and providing an additional $1.5bn for Paramount’s balance sheet.
David Ellison, the 41-year-old son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellision, founded Skydance in 2010 and will become chairman and chief executive of the new Paramount. Jeff Shell, former chief executive of NBCUniversal, will be its new president.
