Skydance Media CEO David Ellison is looking into acquiring National Amusements, the parent company of Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA), according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal.
Ellison is reportedly exploring an all-cash bid financed by Skydance investors including the Ellison family, Tencent and RedBird Capital, a source familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
Talks are still in the early stages, but If Ellison successfully acquired National Amusements, then the next step would be to explore a merger between Skydance and Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA), the report said.
What’s unclear is the willingness of Shari Redstone, whose family controls Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA), to sell the iconic Hollywood studio.
Sources near Redstone say that although she has been reluctant to explore a sale, she views the company as undervalued and would consider a deal that makes sense, according to reports.
Paramount Global, which was formed when CBS and Viacom remerged in 2019, currently has a market value of roughly $9.4 billion — less than Viacom was worth alone prior to the merger.
Notably, National Amusements controls 77% of Paramount Global’s voting shares. It also owns CBS, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and 800 film screens in the US.