Skydance eyes Paramount assets as potential sale sends shares up 14%

Yellowstone

Paramount Global’s majority owner National Amusements has reportedly held talks over a sale of its stake in the studio to US group Skydance and investment firm RedBird Capital Partners.

The news sent Paramount shares surging 14% before the weekend, although talks remain at a very early stage, according to Puck which broke the news.

Other buyers are also reportedly looking at Paramount assets such as streamer Paramount+, with Skydance’s interest lying largely around its LA studio operation.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves (Source: Paramount)

Skydance, which is valued at around $4bn, was founded in 2010 by David Ellison and has worked with Paramount on hit movies including Top Gun and the Mission: Impossible franchise.

It received a $400m injection from RedBird, US private equity outfit KKR and China’s Tencent in 2022.

Paramount, meanwhile, is valued at around $11bn and, like it US studio counterparts, has struggled to make its own streaming service Paramount+ pay.

CEO Bob Bakish admitted that the company is “playing through the trough” of a challenging market during a keynote at MIPCOM two months ago, putting partnerships and “new-age content licensing” at the heart of the strategy.

The company, which also operates FAST platform Pluto TV, has since seen its share price rise by 40%, as sale rumours surfaced. It stood at $16.96 when US markets closed on Friday, up from $15.01 on Thursday evening and $10.70 in late October.