Paramount Global has set its annual shareholder meeting for July 2, offering the latest signal that the long-gestating merger with Skydance Media is unlikely to close on schedule.
In multiple recent regulatory filings and statements, Paramount has maintained its guidance that the $8 billion deal would close during the first half of 2025, which ends June 30.
Paramount disclosed details about the shareholder meeting, which will be conducted virtually at 9 a.m. ET on July 2, in an updated proxy filing. During the meeting, shareholders will have the chance to vote to add three new members to the company’s board of directors. Attorney Mary Boies, ex-judge Roanne Sragow Licht and venture capitalist Charles Ryan have been nominated by the company’s board governance committee.
The lone hurdle for the transaction, which was proposed last summer, remains the approval of the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC review, though, has been clouded by President Donald Trump’s battle with CBS and 60 Minutes. Trump has filed a $20 billion lawsuit over the news magazine’s handling of an interview with Democratic presidential candidate. FCC Chair Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee who often amplifies Trump’s attacks on media companies, has insisted that the commission’s evaluation of the deal is entirely separate from the lawsuit. Even if that is the case, Carr has indicated that the agency hasn’t meaningfully started its process.
Mediation has been ongoing between the parties in the lawsuit. Deadline reported last month that Paramount put forward an 8-figure settlement proposal, but it was rejected by Trump.
The delay in the FCC process and the antagonism by Trump have surprised a number of observers, given that controlling shareholder Shari Redstone and Skydance backer Larry Ellison are both strong supporters of Trump. As the year began, it appeared the Paramount-Skydance combination would be one of many to take shape in what appeared to be a less-tightly regulated industry. Instead, the deal has been hamstrung by Trump’s personal animus toward CBS.
