Kidscreen has confirmed that Paramount Global and Skydance have agreed to an US$8-billion merger deal. Paramount’s annual stockholder meeting is set for tomorrow morning, and that could be the stage for an official announcement.  

A Paramount special committee and Skydance (backed by private equity companies Redbird Capital and KKR) have signed off on the deal and are just waiting on Shari Redstone’s blessing as Paramount’s controlling shareholder. A shareholder vote is not required in this case. The terms include Redstone getting paid US$2 billion for her shares, Skydance and Redbird paying US$1.5 billion in cash to reduce Paramount’s debt, and Skydance buying out roughly 50% of the company’s class B shares for US$4.5 billion. 

If it goes through, this merger deal would bring an end to weeks of discussion and competing offers from companies including Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony Pictures/Apollo Global Management in a joint bid. And it could lay the groundwork for some much-needed stability at Paramount, which has been shedding parts of its business in recent months (including kids SVOD Noggin) in order to appeal to potential buyers. It also mixed up its C-suite in April, replacing CEO Bob Bakish with three execs (Brian Robbins, Chris McCarthy and George Cheeks) who are currently running the company together as the Office of the CEO.