Barry Diller Explores Bid to Take Control of Paramount

Barry Diller Explores Bid to Take Control of Paramount - The New York Times

Supported by
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Barry Diller Explores Bid to Take Control of Paramount

Mr. Diller, a digital media pioneer, lost a bidding war for Paramount Pictures decades ago. Now, he’s making a run at its parent company.

The billionaire Barry Diller is exploring a bid to take control of Paramount, the parent company of CBS, MTV and Nickelodeon, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.

Mr. Diller’s digital-media conglomerate, IAC, has signed nondisclosure agreements with National Amusements, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, the people said. Nondisclosure agreements are a key step in deal making, allowing both sides to exchange confidential information.

Mr. Diller’s interest in Paramount is the latest twist in one of the most complex — and dramatic — efforts to sell a media company in several years. Paramount reached the brink of a deal in recent months with Skydance, a Hollywood studio, before talks abruptly fell apart.

The nondisclosure agreements were signed sometime after the possible deal between Paramount and Skydance fell through in June, two of the people said.

It’s unclear how far along the talks between IAC and National Amusements are. Others have also expressed interest in acquiring National Amusements, including the media and finance executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Steven Paul, the Hollywood executive best known for his work on the “Baby Geniuses” franchise.

A bid to take control of Paramount would be a coda of sorts for Mr. Diller, 82, who tried to acquire Paramount Pictures in the early ’90s. He was outbid by Sumner Redstone, the bellicose media mogul whose daughter, Shari, now controls the company.

Mr. Diller was named head of Paramount Pictures in 1974 at the age of 32. He was credited with rejuvenating the studio, developing a cadre of talented lieutenants, like the future Disney chief executive Michael Eisner and the studio wunderkind Jeffrey Katzenberg, that became known as the Killer Dillers.

After Mr. Redstone outbid him for the company, Mr. Diller set his sights on continuing to build his new media empire, striking a series of audacious deals to expand IAC.

“They won,” Mr. Diller said in a statement after losing out to Mr. Redstone. “We lost. Next.”

National Amusements began exploring potential deals last year. As part of its talks with Skydance, Shari Redstone, the largest shareholder at National Amusements, would sell the company to Skydance, while Paramount would merge with Skydance through a separate transaction. That deal was scuttled after they could not agree on noneconomic terms after significant shareholder pushback.

By acquiring National Amusements, a buyer would get control of Paramount — and its valuable studio library — without having to strike a deal to acquire the company outright. But it would also mean taking control of an asset with significant liabilities, including roughly $14 billion in debt and cable businesses facing significant headwinds.

Lauren Hirsch joined The Times from CNBC in 2020, covering deals and the biggest stories on Wall Street. More about Lauren Hirsch

Benjamin Mullin reports on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact Ben securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or email at benjamin.mullin@nytimes.com. More about Benjamin Mullin

Paramount,
Barry Diller

Inside the Media Industry

-
CNN: ​​The network is in charge of every aspect of the Biden-Trump debate, a
major shift from previous years.
-
Netflix: ​​The company’s
latest internal memo about its corporate culture is more about how it expects employees to behave than what it wants to become.
-
The Washington Post: ​​ Robert Winnett, the editor selected to run the paper following Sally Buzbee’s resignation,
will not take up that position, after reports raised questions about his ties to unethical news gathering practices in Britain.
- Warner Bros. Discovery: ​​​​ The company’s TNT channel and the N.B.A. have long been inextricably linked, but that may end after next season.
- HBO: ​​​​ The network has hit an unusually fallow stretch. Executives hope the return of “House of the Dragon” could be the start of a new winning streak.