David Ellison’s Skydance is said to have made a preliminary offer to buy Shari Redstone’s stake in National Amusements, the family holding company that controls Paramount Global, according to a Bloomberg report.
Reps for Skydance, National Amusements and Paramount Global declined to comment. Deadline is hearing the the situation is “status quo” regarding Skydance’s pursuit of the media company, which was first reported in Deadline in early December, and there’s a way to go in clinching a deal for the ultimate prize, Paramount Global.
National Amusements controls about 80% of Paramount Global’s voting stock. Ellison is mainly interested in the studio but Paramount won’t sell its crown jewel alone.
Acquiring Redstone’s NAI stake would be cheaper than buying the entire company outright. The idea is that Ellison would merge Skydance and Paramount and look to divest the company’s other assets.
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