Potential Paramount Sale; thoughts and discussion

A number of their IP's are moreso licensed to them through the parent company and not owned directly by them, so things like Transformers, Star Trek, Mission Impossible and Nickelodeon are not theirs to sell. Top Gun would be their most notable, and recent, original property.

So what happens if the sale to Skydance goes through and the shareholders sue, because it’s not 100% clear if the threat of a lawsuit will change Redstone’s mind.

To answer Rabbitearsblog's question, this blurb from Deadline gives the gist of their situation:

Also, looks like Bakish is on his way out, if Variety is to be believed.

I do wonder if Bakish is going out, who will be the next CEO for Paramount?

Huge news: Variety says Bob Bakish is out as Paramount CEO. He’s getting the axe on Monday.

https://variety.com/2024/biz/news/ceo-bob-bakish-out-paramount-global-1235984507/

This Forbes article on the topic has a bit more context: https://www.forbes.com/sites/caileygleeson/2024/04/27/paramount-may-reportedly-oust-ceo-bob-bakish-heres-what-we-know/

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Apr 27th 2024 at 5:47:44 AM

So, they just ousted Bakish because he was against the merger?

If Forbes’ sources are correct.

That sounds like an odd reason to fire someone...

And the Paramount earnings call is on Monday too. They’ll have to explain this to the investors…

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Apr 27th 2024 at 6:58:51 AM

I also read that Bakish refused to let go of Showtime and BET, which made Redstone rather miffed. They're definitely not on the same page when it comes to deal makin'.

Do we think the Redstones have a plan for the potential lawsuits or do they just have tunnel vision here?

So, if Paramount refused the deal, shouldn't that be within their right to do so?

What kind of debt is Paramount in? Where did it come from?

Legally, a company has to make as much money as possible for their stockholders, and the Paramount stockholders do not think the Skydance deal is in their benefit.

My understanding is losses incurred by streaming and the decline of linear TV. That said, a lot of studios have this kind of debt these days.

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Apr 27th 2024 at 7:53:46 AM

I do wonder what will happen once Paramount is bought out. Will the company make them change their movies or make them remove all of the movies they have in their library?

Doubtful.

Linking a Deadline article summarizing the earnings call: https://deadline.com/2024/04/paramount-bob-bakish-replacements-wall-street-1235898967/

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Apr 29th 2024 at 5:10:04 AM

And... he's out!

Also, Paramount's quarterly report came out and it's not too bad. They only lost $288 million on their streaming misadventures.

Oh, and Skydance has ironed out its deal and it's the bestest and finalist as it can be. Now we wait...

Do we think they’ll go for it or will there be a bidding war?

Has Paramount lost more money than that before?

Not exactly. The Sony/Apollo bid will hit the table if the Skydance talks crumble. Emphasis on if.

Yes, actually. Last year, the losses were at $510 million for Par Plus.

Last but not least, here's a couple of memos regarding the state of the mountain.

You think the Redstones will reach straight for Apollo and Sony if Skydance doesn’t work out?

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Apr 29th 2024 at 9:59:30 AM

Which would be better in the long run for Paramount if they eventually get sold? Skydance or Sony?

Supposedly Skydance will keep all Paramount properties together, which was Shari Redstone's (the person with the most controlling interest of Paramount) whole thing. She doesn't want Paramount broken up. It's why she's turned down more lucrative deals.

(Whether Skydance will adhere to that part of the deal long-term a lot of people have mixed opinions on).

Skydance also has a long-standing relationship with Paramount producing Star Trek and some movies/shows (Top Gun: Maverick — which is important since it earned a *lot*).

The fear with Apollo Global is that people think they'd just be another Zaslav situation and just put a lot of properties on the chopping block and sell for parts. And, I've read that some fans are not keen on Sony either for how they mishandled the whole thing with Funimation.

On the other hand, the shareholders are up in arms over the Skydance deal because they want more money out of the deal and prefer Apollo Global-Sony. (And they don't actually care about making more movies, etc., some of the shareholders on twitter I saw just want money out of whichever company will buy Paramount.)

I don't understand that shareholders' logic about not caring about making movies because how are they supposed to make more money if they can't make anymore movies?

You see, shareholders only care about money, not how it’s made.