Dennis Mathew’s investor conference appearance coincides with M&A chatter that Charter Communications is eyeing an acquisition of the cable TV rival.
Paramount Global controlling shareholder Shari Redstone has increased the seriousness of sale talks in recent months. Sector-related reasons, as well as personal and financial motivations, have added complexity to the deal-making process. Paramount Global’s carriage deal with Charter, set to expire in April, looms over potential sale discussions.
Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global have held talks about a potential merger of the two media companies. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish in a lunch meeting Tuesday in New York where they discussed a possible merger, sources said. Zaslav also has talked with Shari Redstone, whose National Amusements Inc. owns a controlling stake in Paramount Global, about a potential combination of the companies.
The Shari Redstone speculation and resulting renewed interest in deal talk could well have a domino effect and contribute to getting the media merger merry-go-round moving again in the new year.
Experts agree the media business needs to consolidate. But high interest rates, a hostile government and a shaky advertising market make it almost impossible to do a good deal. Pictured: Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan has been an active opponent of consolidation.
Paramount Global is close to announcing a sale of its publisher Simon & Schuster to private investment giant KKR, according to a person familiar with the situation. Timing is always fluid but a deal could be announced as early as today. Paramount will report second-quarter earnings this afternoon. It’s the second deal for the storied publisher. A previous agreement to sell the book publisher to Bertelsmann’s Penguin Random House was blocked by U.S. regulators last year for being anticompetitive — a ruling that was upheld by a federal judge. A transaction with KKR wouldn’t face the same hurdles. HarperCollins, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., was also a suitor.