Don Chmielewski
(Reuters) – A special committee of Paramount Global’s board tasked with evaluating bids for the company met on Saturday morning, even as rival bidders for the studio await word on next steps.
Paramount ended exclusive talks with Skydance Media on Friday without a deal, allowing a special committee to consider other proposals for “Mission: Impossible” and “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
Paramount Special Committee has not yet contacted Sony (NYSE:) Pictures Entertainment, which along with private equity firm Apollo Global Management (NYSE:), sent a letter Wednesday expressing interest in acquiring Paramount, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Meanwhile, David Ellison’s Skydance, which has been in talks for months over a deal with Paramount and its controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, is weighing its options, Reuters previously reported.
A spokesman for the special committee could not be reached for comment.
Paramount, like other studios, is struggling to recover from last year’s months-long strikes by Hollywood writers and actors, a weak advertising market and falling cable subscriptions in the United States that have depressed profits in its TV business.
Its Paramount+ streaming service also trails rivals Netflix (NASDAQ:) and Disney+ in subscriber numbers, although Redstone had hoped the 2019 merger of CBS and Viacom would help the combined company, later renamed Paramount Global, better compete.
Since then, Paramount shares have fallen more than 65%, losing more than $14 billion in market value.