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(Reuters) -Skydance Media and Paramount Global have agreed to a merger, the companies announced late on Sunday, marking the end of an era for the Redstone media empire which was launched as a chain of movie theaters by Shari Redstone's family in 1936.
Originally named the Northeast Theater Corporation, it later morphed into National Amusements, which eventually became one of the largest media companies in the United States, with Paramount Pictures, CBS and Viacom under its umbrella.
Paramount and Skydance agreed to a two-step process in which Skydance and its deal partners will acquire National Amusements, which holds the Redstone family's controlling stake in Paramount, for $2.4 billion in cash.
After the National Amusements acquisition, Skydance will merge with Paramount, offering shareholders $4.5 billion in cash or stock, and add $1.5 billion to Paramount's balance sheet.
Here are the key events leading up to the deal:
Year Events
December CBS Corp (NYSE:CBS_old) and Viacom merge to form ViacomCBS (NASDAQ:PARA),
2019 combining mogul Sumner Redstone's media units
13 years after a split. ViacomCBS acquires a
49% stake in film studio Miramax from BeIN
Media Group for $375 million
September ViacomCBS rebrands a CBS streaming service to
2020 Paramount+ and launches it in international
markets. Sells CNET Media Group to Red
Ventures for $500 million
November ViacomCBS agrees to sell CBS Studio Center to
2021 private firms for $1.85 billion
February ViacomCBS changes its name to Paramount
2022 Global
December The chief executives of Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD)
2023 and Paramount are reported to be in talks for
a potential deal between the companies
January Skydance CEO David Ellison reportedly
2024 explores an all-cash bid to acquire Paramount
parent, National Amusements
January Media entrepreneur Byron Allen submits a $30
2024 billion offer for Paramount, including debt
and equity
March India's Reliance Industries agrees to buy
2024 Paramount's entire 13.01% stake in local
entertainment network, Viacom18 Media, for
about $517 million
March Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) reportedly offers to
2024 buy Paramount Pictures film studio for $11
billion
April Paramount's board reportedly agrees to enter
2024 into exclusive merger talks with Skydance
April Paramount replaces CEO Bob Bakish with an
2024 office of CEO comprising CBS President and
CEO George Cheeks, Paramount Pictures studio
chief Brian Robbins and Chris McCarthy, head
of Showtime, MTV and other networks
June 2024 Edgar Bronfman Jr, former chairman of Warner
Music, reportedly expresses an interest in
buying National Amusements, Paramount's
controlling shareholder
June 2024 Sumner's daughter and National Amusements
President Shari Redstone abruptly ends talks
with Skydance
July 2024 Barry Diller's digital media conglomerate,
IAC, reportedly explores a bid for Paramount
and enters into non-disclosure agreements
with National Amusements
July 2024 National Amusements reportedly reaches a
preliminary deal to sell its controlling
interest in Paramount to Skydance
July 2024 Skydance Media and Paramount agree to merge
in a two-step process, offering shareholders
$4.5 billion in cash or stock