CBS and Viacom Reunited in Deal That Marks Ascendance of Shari Redstone
Source: New York Times
After more than a decade apart, CBS and Viacom agreed to merge on Tuesday in a deal that will reunite a roster of once-mighty media businesses. Viacom's Paramount film studios and MTV and Nickelodeon cable networks will be added to the broadcast giant CBS and book publisher Simon & Schuster. Viacom Chief Executive Robert M. Bakish will lead the combined company, which will be called ViacomCBS, and Joseph Ianniello, the CBS acting chief executive, will remain as head of a newly designated CBS unit, the boards of both businesses said in a statement.
The combination of CBS and Viacom is a victory for Shari Redstone, the leader of a family business that controls both. She had pushed for a deal for at least three years but faced fierce opposition from CBS's board, including its former chief executive, Leslie Moonves. Mr. Moonves was pushed out last September after several women accused him of sexual assault. He has denied the charges. Ms. Redstone will be chairwoman of the combined company.
The merger is what is known as a stock swap, and values Viacom at about $11 billion as of Monday's closing price. Under the swap, an investor with 1,000 shares of Viacom would receive 596.25 shares of CBS. CBS shareholders will in effect own about 60 percent of the combined business. The deal doesn't include any cash, making it a tax-free transaction.
The two companies were once a single entity, called Viacom, until they were cleaved apart in 2006. Their reunification was seen as necessary at a time when audiences across television have eroded. Tech platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Netflix have chipped away at big media, eating into the once-fat profits that companies like CBS and Viacom enjoyed.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/business/cbs-viacom-merger.html
Had to do a quick search to confirm but this is Sumner Redstone's daughter.
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