Barry Diller said his interest in Paramount Global “unquestionably” pushed Skydance to close its merger with the media company.
Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount via her family holding National Amusements Inc. “ought to send a nice pot of flowers or chicken soup” as a token of appreciation, Diller joked.
The months-long sale process finally wrapped last month. Skydance prevailed with its proposal to invest $8 billion in buying out NAI and then merging with Paramount.
The pact is starting regulatory review and is expected to close in the first half of 2025. Speaking at the FT Business of Entertainment Summit, Diller recounted the “symmetry” of a potential run at Paramount Global, given that he once ran the company’s film and TV studio and took on Sumner Redstone in a bidding war for the studio.
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