Paramount Global (PARA) is expected to announce the departure of CEO Bob Bakish, according to multiple media reports. The news comes as investors eye the company’s dealmaking options.
Bakish’s potential departure was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which said an announcement could come as soon as Monday amid the CEO’s growing tensions with Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount through her family’s holding company National Amusements.
According to the report, Paramount would install an “Office of the CEO” consortium made up of company division heads in place of Bakish. Shares are up about 5% following the news.
National Amusements is currently in exclusive talks with David Ellison’s Skydance Media to sell its controlling stake in Paramount, according to a source familiar with the matter.
But Paramount’s nonvoting shareholders have publicly expressed concerns over the terms of the deal, which critics say unfairly benefits Redstone. The company’s exclusivity window with Skydance expires on May 3.
Meanwhile, Sony Pictures Entertainment and private equity firm Apollo Global Management have also been in talks over a joint bid to buy Paramount, according to media reports. (Disclosure: Yahoo Finance is owned by Apollo.)
“The clock is ticking for Ms. Redstone to come to a decision as we believe Paramount’s distribution deal with Charter is set to expire at the end of the month,” MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman wrote in a note published April 22.
Fishman said Disney’s (DIS) precedent-setting deal with Charter could have a meaningful impact on Paramount “should Charter choose to either drop Paramount’s long tail cable networks and/or force Paramount+ to be bundled at a heavily discounted wholesale price to Charter subscribers.”
Ultimately, though, the fate of Paramount’s future all comes down to Redstone.
“While shareholders can make appeals for her to reconsider the Apollo/Sony deal that better serves their interests, Redstone seems set on crossing the finish line with Ellison and his backers for now,” Fishman said.
Paramount will report first quarter earnings after the bell today. Read more here.
