US authority clears the way for sale of Paramount
After political turbulence, the Paramount sale has been secured: The US authority FCC approved the deal. Paramount had previously done Trump several favors.
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The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved the sale of Paramount to Skydance. Its approval was seen as a major obstacle to the deal and was anything but certain due to political entanglements: Paramount also owns the news channel CBS, which is embroiled in a dispute with US President Donald Trump.
Trump accused CBS of editing an interview with Kamala Harris in favor of the Democratic candidate in the "60 Minutes" program during the presidential race last year. CBS always denied these allegations, but nevertheless agreed to a settlement payment of 16 million dollars – possibly to save the Paramount deal. The FCC denied any connection. CBS also canceled the late-night show hosted by commentator Stephen Colbert, who frequently criticized Trump.
The FCC, which as a supervisory authority has a say in takeovers in the media sector, has lost its independence: Its head Brendan Carr was appointed by Donald Trump and has, among other things, put pressure on companies to shut down their diversity programs. Carr's FCC has apparently also secured concessions for the Paramount takeover by Skydance: an internal ombudsman is to ensure political neutrality and there are to be no diversity programs.
8 billion US dollars
Skydance and Paramount announced the planned takeover last July. Prior to this, Paramount had been looking for a buyer for a long time. Skydance and Paramount are to merge as part of the multi-stage deal, for which a total of over 8 billion US dollars will be spent on shares and debt repayment. Skydance is backed by film producer David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison.
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In addition to Skydance, Warner Bros. Discovery and the investment company RedBird Capital were also rumored to be interested in Paramount. The deal also includes the streaming service Paramount+, which Paramount launched in Germany at the end of 2022.
"As a long-standing production partner of Paramount, Skydance knows Paramount well and has a clear strategic vision and the resources to lead the company into its next phase of growth. We believe in Paramount and always will," said current Paramount owner Shari Redstone.
(dahe)
