Paramount Global, Skydance's Rs 66,800-crore merger falls apart as billionaire chairperson abruptly stops negotiations

National Amusements, which owns a majority voting stake in embattled entertainment giant Paramount Global, said Tuesday that it has ended talks on a possible merger of Paramount with movie production company Skydance Media. The potential deal had drawn attention for weeks amid concerns about Paramount’s future given its heavy debt load and declining television business. One media report in early June even stated that Paramount and Skydance had agreed to terms of a deal, contingent only on signoff from Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone.

A statement from National Amusements merely noted that the two sides “have not been able to reach mutually acceptable terms” for the deal.

Skydance, based in Santa Monica, California, has helped produce some major Paramount hits in recent years. Those include several Tom Cruise films including Top Gun: Maverick and installments of the Mission Impossible series. Its founder and CEO is David Ellison, the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison.

The deal was valued at $8 billion (Rs 66,800 crore) according to New York Post. The complex merger deal would require Skydance to buy National Amusements, following which Paramount would acquire Skydance.

Following the news of the cancellation of the merger, shares in New York-based Paramount Global ended Tuesday down almost 8%, bringing the company’s market cap down by over $650 million (Rs 5400 crore).

With inputs from AP

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