Skydance’s latest offer opens the door to rivals

Treading carefully: Robbins and Redstone (right) arrive for the premiere of “If” in New York City. She has endorsed the co-CEOs and their plan to better capitalise on the company’s wealth of content and reduce costs to strengthen its balance sheet. — AFP

LOS ANGELES: Paramount Global chairperson Shari Redstone is unhappy with Skydance Media’s reduced offer for the family’s controlling stake in the company, opening the door for rival bidders to make their case, say two sources familiar with the matter.

Over a months’ long pursuit of a deal with Paramount, Skydance chief executive officer (CEO) David Ellison reduced his initial US$2.5bil offer for National Amusements, which holds the Redstone family’s Paramount stake, to provide additional cash for the company’s non-voting shareholders, according to one source familiar with the process.