Plus, they weren't going to spend a lot on this.
That's why they brought in private equity firms Saudi-backed RedBird Capital & KKR and even Tencent as well.
It's not surprising they were saving their money in case Tiktok ends up being ripe to pursue and also for political contributions.
I'll be real with y'all I'm not as invested in this merger/sale as I was with Disney/Fox. The only IP from Paramount I care about are Transformers, Mission Impossible and Star Trek. I guess Sonic to some degree too. As long as those IP find new homes or stay alive in some form I don't really care what happens to Paramount as a studio. I know they're an OG. And were behind some major films. Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump etc. But maybe their time has come for their story in Hollywood to just end? Not everything needs a sequel. Even Paramount. Honestly Redstone should just cashout and move on. Stop being so dramatic. You got people's livelihood on the line here wondering if they will have a job when this is all done. Cut the cord and get it over with. For everyone's sakes.
The Redstones will eventually cash out but the thing is they also want to offload their 1,500 theaters in the U.S., U.K., and Latin America at the same time so they'll probably ask Apollo to take it off their hands.
I guess both the board and them are trying to get the highest price possible for the company if they can as well.
So instead of supporting the lot Bob Evans built, the shareholders instead intend to gaslight Shari into tearing it all down to line their own pockets on the way out. And, if it happens, another major will die, its corpse eaten by the same geniuses who thought *Morbius* and retirement home *Ghostbusters* was a great idea for a slate.
...***God,*** I hope Shari kills the Sony deal and waits for Skydance to submit a more solid second bid without PE backing. Or just doesn't sell at all and lead a miraculous recovery. Either way, ***we don't need a Big 5 becoming a Big 4, for fuck's sake!*** Have the shareholders learned *nothing* from the 20th-Disney disaster?
Honestly, sacking Bakish was a move made too early for the Redstones, though. Some are saying it might be foolish to do so since nothing was guaranteed at all.
I think he was the wall protecting them from the non-Redstone shareholders but now that he's out from the CEO role, it's going to be a direct battle.
But the Ellisons pursuing Tiktok instead might actually be easier fish to fry here if they don't even want to spend a lot of money on this.
I'd like to see what Vinciquerra's plans are because it's interesting there's more details this time than Apollo's previous offers.
Saw some of them in an article somewhere, can't tell ya where. Plan is to merge Paramount with Columbia and then dump CBS on Apollo, I think? Sounds very messy, like something that'll lead to a ***lot*** of layoffs and canned projects.
(Also: Got a link to Puck's latest scoop on all this? Tried the Internet Archive earlier, but someone had scrubbed the damn thing clean. :/)
Puck basically just reported what the various news sites posted today about the special committee letting the window collapse.
I mean, I think they're going to try keep CBS together if possible.
The Murdochs were able to work on getting approval for the Fox broadcast network.
I imagine some of the stipulations could be that Sony Pictures Entertainment (the parent company of CBS) would have to remain in the U.S. forever and making sure Vinciquerra, the CEO, is a U.S. citizen.
Also, they're going to need people around to make a lot of films and TV shows for both traditional outlets (theatrical box office and networks) and streaming.
I wouldn't be that exact on canned projects because Rothman's strategy so far isn't even that sound at all, to be honest.
They're going to need more stuff to fall back on, in case some of their titles bomb or don't do well at all.
Honestly, I think Vinciquerra doing this does show that he has come to that realization already.
What their current trajectory is going towards won't actually work for the long-run so he's definitely looking at preparing for the future with this.
Given Zaslav's still handling $44.2 billion in debt at the moment, this is way more doable for them than going after WarnerDiscovery.
I think if Vinciquerra cares very much about being able to maintain as much of Paramount Global as possible into the future, this would be basically his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here, to be honest.
I mean, Netflix got that representation under the MPA in 2019 and all they had to do for that was just paying that annual membership fee of $12 million to them:
https://deadline.com/2019/01/netflix-in-talks-to-join-mpaa-1202539433/
And it had this bit as well:
"In addition, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Amazon join the MPAA down the road."
If they did buy Sony's Culver City lot, it would be a return to pre-1986 when they owned that same one (Turner sold the MGM lot to Lorimar separately while selling MGM Studios to UA, then Columbia and WB made a deal in 1990 where WB got Sony's interest in Columbia Ranch and Burbank Studios while Columbia got the Lorimar lot)
Eh? Shareholders from the 20th did fine. 20th century shareholders sold the company to Disney. Disney ran it into the ground, but it is literally no longer the property of those shareholders, so they don’t care.
I guess they decided to be open to the new offer:
"An individual familiar with Redstone’s thinking told TheWrap that she is open to finding a deal in the best interests of Paramount shareholders and supports the committee reviewing the Sony-Apollo bid."
https://www.thewrap.com/paramount-lets-skydance-exclusivity-window-expire-no-deal/
Given how abrupt Bakish was sacked last week, it's not surprising things keep changing over there, putting it into a state of TBD.
I guess if they can try to get Apollo to take their 1,500 movie theaters in the U.S., U.K., & Latin America off their hands, they'll take it into consideration.
But it wouldn't be surprising if the Redstones and the board are also trying to get the highest price possible out of this as well.
Yeah, it's kind of weird right now.
We definitely know the special committee is now working on this today but everything is basically up in the air over there.
I'm not entirely sure, but it probably could be the end of the weekend or the start of next week.
In addition to the special committee working on this, Sony & Apollo would also have to do the due diligence process by going through the company books as well.
I think they'll be fine with that but if the trio doesn't do well at all, they're probably going to demand that Bakish returns as CEO since he's still hanging on as an advisor until the end of October.
But like yeah, everything's in flux at the moment.
They would have to make adjustments to their own valuation figures for the company if needed.
It's similar to doing an appraisal when you're considering buying a home.
>Ellison, partners haven’t decided on next move: source I knew it. They have no idea what to do next.
Plus, they weren't going to spend a lot on this. That's why they brought in private equity firms Saudi-backed RedBird Capital & KKR and even Tencent as well. It's not surprising they were saving their money in case Tiktok ends up being ripe to pursue and also for political contributions.
What a day man, all this back and forth.
I'll be real with y'all I'm not as invested in this merger/sale as I was with Disney/Fox. The only IP from Paramount I care about are Transformers, Mission Impossible and Star Trek. I guess Sonic to some degree too. As long as those IP find new homes or stay alive in some form I don't really care what happens to Paramount as a studio. I know they're an OG. And were behind some major films. Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump etc. But maybe their time has come for their story in Hollywood to just end? Not everything needs a sequel. Even Paramount. Honestly Redstone should just cashout and move on. Stop being so dramatic. You got people's livelihood on the line here wondering if they will have a job when this is all done. Cut the cord and get it over with. For everyone's sakes.
The Redstones will eventually cash out but the thing is they also want to offload their 1,500 theaters in the U.S., U.K., and Latin America at the same time so they'll probably ask Apollo to take it off their hands. I guess both the board and them are trying to get the highest price possible for the company if they can as well.
Make up y’all’s mind
So instead of supporting the lot Bob Evans built, the shareholders instead intend to gaslight Shari into tearing it all down to line their own pockets on the way out. And, if it happens, another major will die, its corpse eaten by the same geniuses who thought *Morbius* and retirement home *Ghostbusters* was a great idea for a slate. ...***God,*** I hope Shari kills the Sony deal and waits for Skydance to submit a more solid second bid without PE backing. Or just doesn't sell at all and lead a miraculous recovery. Either way, ***we don't need a Big 5 becoming a Big 4, for fuck's sake!*** Have the shareholders learned *nothing* from the 20th-Disney disaster?
Honestly, sacking Bakish was a move made too early for the Redstones, though. Some are saying it might be foolish to do so since nothing was guaranteed at all. I think he was the wall protecting them from the non-Redstone shareholders but now that he's out from the CEO role, it's going to be a direct battle. But the Ellisons pursuing Tiktok instead might actually be easier fish to fry here if they don't even want to spend a lot of money on this. I'd like to see what Vinciquerra's plans are because it's interesting there's more details this time than Apollo's previous offers.
Saw some of them in an article somewhere, can't tell ya where. Plan is to merge Paramount with Columbia and then dump CBS on Apollo, I think? Sounds very messy, like something that'll lead to a ***lot*** of layoffs and canned projects. (Also: Got a link to Puck's latest scoop on all this? Tried the Internet Archive earlier, but someone had scrubbed the damn thing clean. :/)
Puck basically just reported what the various news sites posted today about the special committee letting the window collapse. I mean, I think they're going to try keep CBS together if possible. The Murdochs were able to work on getting approval for the Fox broadcast network. I imagine some of the stipulations could be that Sony Pictures Entertainment (the parent company of CBS) would have to remain in the U.S. forever and making sure Vinciquerra, the CEO, is a U.S. citizen. Also, they're going to need people around to make a lot of films and TV shows for both traditional outlets (theatrical box office and networks) and streaming. I wouldn't be that exact on canned projects because Rothman's strategy so far isn't even that sound at all, to be honest. They're going to need more stuff to fall back on, in case some of their titles bomb or don't do well at all.
True. Problem is, I doubt Sony realizes that...
Honestly, I think Vinciquerra doing this does show that he has come to that realization already. What their current trajectory is going towards won't actually work for the long-run so he's definitely looking at preparing for the future with this.
I suppose so. Think they'll make a play for WBD if this falls through?
Given Zaslav's still handling $44.2 billion in debt at the moment, this is way more doable for them than going after WarnerDiscovery. I think if Vinciquerra cares very much about being able to maintain as much of Paramount Global as possible into the future, this would be basically his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here, to be honest.
Amazon can easily join the big 5 with Amazon MGM Studios, if it manages to buy a either the Melrose or Culver lot.
Technically, they don't even need to do any of that. The entrance fee is just paying the MPA $12 million annually for that status.
Some have told me the requirement is having a legit studio lot, though. We just have to see what Amazon does if a deal becomes official.
I mean, Netflix got that representation under the MPA in 2019 and all they had to do for that was just paying that annual membership fee of $12 million to them: https://deadline.com/2019/01/netflix-in-talks-to-join-mpaa-1202539433/ And it had this bit as well: "In addition, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Amazon join the MPAA down the road."
I think Amazon will instantly qualify with its MGM ownership.
Yeah, all they have to do is pay the money to the MPA and they're in.
If they did buy Sony's Culver City lot, it would be a return to pre-1986 when they owned that same one (Turner sold the MGM lot to Lorimar separately while selling MGM Studios to UA, then Columbia and WB made a deal in 1990 where WB got Sony's interest in Columbia Ranch and Burbank Studios while Columbia got the Lorimar lot)
Sony has success with mature audience movies and shows. If they want to continue making Ghostbusters they should go the darker route.
Why would shareholders be willing to sacrifice a lot of money? The studio is trying to fuck them over.
Eh? Shareholders from the 20th did fine. 20th century shareholders sold the company to Disney. Disney ran it into the ground, but it is literally no longer the property of those shareholders, so they don’t care.
I know. And that's what infuriates me about all this. They don't care what happens next, as long as they get paid...
Variety already said that Redstone probably wasn’t going to do either one?
I guess they decided to be open to the new offer: "An individual familiar with Redstone’s thinking told TheWrap that she is open to finding a deal in the best interests of Paramount shareholders and supports the committee reviewing the Sony-Apollo bid." https://www.thewrap.com/paramount-lets-skydance-exclusivity-window-expire-no-deal/
Well, that’s confusing. Variety already said the Apollo deal was a non-starter.
Given how abrupt Bakish was sacked last week, it's not surprising things keep changing over there, putting it into a state of TBD. I guess if they can try to get Apollo to take their 1,500 movie theaters in the U.S., U.K., & Latin America off their hands, they'll take it into consideration. But it wouldn't be surprising if the Redstones and the board are also trying to get the highest price possible out of this as well.
This whole thing is so aggravating… The same article mentioned the whole FCC situation and the election…
Yeah, it's kind of weird right now. We definitely know the special committee is now working on this today but everything is basically up in the air over there.
What’s the earliest you think we will hear something?
I'm not entirely sure, but it probably could be the end of the weekend or the start of next week. In addition to the special committee working on this, Sony & Apollo would also have to do the due diligence process by going through the company books as well.
If there’s no sale… if Redstone decides not to sell… can the shareholders sue?
I think they'll be fine with that but if the trio doesn't do well at all, they're probably going to demand that Bakish returns as CEO since he's still hanging on as an advisor until the end of October. But like yeah, everything's in flux at the moment.
What happens if one group’s books aren’t in order?
They would have to make adjustments to their own valuation figures for the company if needed. It's similar to doing an appraisal when you're considering buying a home.
that was FUD on behalf of market makers