Skydance eyes Paramount role for NBCU alum Jeff Shell as deal shapes up

Tulsa King (Source: Paramount)

Former NBCUniversal chief Jeff Shell is being eyed up for a key role at Paramount Global, as more details emerged over Skydance potentail deal for the US studio.

Skydance became the frontrunner for Paramount last week and now details have emerged over the proposed acquisition, which would see the David Ellison-led firm joined by All3Media’s soon-to-be-owner RedBird Capital and Leonine owner KKR as shareholders in the US studio.

Jeff Shell

The trio would take a “significant minority or slight majority” stake in the company, CNBC reported, which would continue to trade publicly.

It would likely be led by Ellison, while Shell – RedBird’s chairman for media and former NBCU CEO until last year – also taking a senior leadership role.

Shareholders would also take more direct control if the deal did go through rather than being led by the Redstone family’s National Amusements, which currently holds 77% of voting shares.

CNCB reported that Ellison’s father, Oracle founder David Ellison, would also be involved in funding the potential acquisition and would allow Paramount to access the tech company’s AI software.

Previously abandoned disposals of assets such as BET Media Group and Showtime would also be revisited, the US business outlet reported.

Background & context

The details come as the future of Paramount gathers momentum, with Skydance’s exclusive talks with Paramount sending shares up by 15% last week to more than $13.50, although that has since settled at $11.97.

That remains almost 70% down on 2019 following the merger of Redstone’s Viacom and CBS, when the share price stood at in excess of $50.Skydance has a 30-day exclusive window for discussions, with the move coming after private equity firm Apollo saw a $26bn deal to acquire all shares pushed aside by Paramount.

Yellowstone

Apollo had already seen an earlier $11bn offer for film studio assets rebuffed by Paramount, which has been seeking a buyer for months, with numerous bidders putting forward proposals.

Earlier this year, former Endemol Shine Group owner Apollo offered $11bn for the film and TV studio – but not its streamer Paramount+ or networks including CBS.

The production arm is behind shows ranging from Reacher and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan for Prime Video to The Haunting Of Hill House for Netflix, but the deal was knocked back.

News of Skydance’s interest initially emerged late last year, with the company valued at around $4bn.

It was founded in 2010 by Ellison and is backed by RedBird, KKR and China’s Tencent.

WBD’s chief David Zaslav and Paramount’s Bob Bakish also met up in New York City late last year to discuss a potential merger but reports in February claimed that those talks had come to an end.

US media mogul and The Weather Channel owner Byron Allen also made a $30bn offer to acquire the entirety of Paramount Global in January.