Overview
- The Federal Communications Commission voted 2-1 to approve the $8 billion Skydance acquisition of Paramount Global after a 251-day review, mandating the elimination of all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and the appointment of a bias-review ombudsman at CBS.
- Paramount agreed to pay President Donald Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview and canceled Stephen Colbert’s late-night show in moves widely seen as clearing regulatory hurdles.
- Skydance and Paramount have scheduled the merger to close on August 7, after which the combined entity will begin trading on Nasdaq under the ticker PSKY.
- David Ellison will chair and serve as CEO of Paramount Skydance Corp., with Jeff Shell appointed as president, while Shari Redstone plans to exit the board with a $1.75 billion cash payout.
- The deal injects $1.5 billion in fresh capital to reduce Paramount’s debt, offers $4.5 billion in shareholder payouts and targets up to $2 billion in annual cost savings.