As Paramount and Skydance inch closer towards a deal that would give David Ellison’s media company control through Shari Redstone and National Amusements’ stake, shareholders are expressing concern that a deal could decrease their ownership stakes and close off better options for a sale.
For a deal to go through, it must win approval from Paramount’s special committee, which was formed in January to balance competing interests in the different companies. But the committee faces the difficult challenge of striking a balance between a deal that is in line with the interests of Redstone — Paramount’s majority shareholder through her stake in National Amusements — while upholding its fiduciary responsibility to the rest of its shareholders, some of whom argue that Apollo Global Management’s competing bid is being unfairly ignored.