Majority shareholder Shari Redstone’s National Amusements (NAI) has abruptly shut down a proposed merger between Skydance Media and Paramount Global.

The US$8-billion deal—which was reportedly close to wrapping just last week—is now dead in the water as the companies were unable to agree on “mutually acceptable terms,” according to a statement shared by NAI.

“NAI is grateful to Skydance for their months of work in pursuing this potential transaction, and looks forward to the ongoing, successful production collaboration between Paramount and Skydance.”

After The Wall Street Journal reported this news on Tuesday afternoon, Paramount’s share price fell by 7.9% in the final half hour of daily trading. 

One of the issues behind the stalemate, according to sources close to the deal, related to a possible vote for majority approval from non-Redstone shareholders—while NAI supported this, Skydance considered it a “nonstarter” for reasons that have not been disclosed. Redstone is now expected to focus on pursuing a sale of NAI on its own.

Skydance, the studio behind films such as Spy Kids: Armageddon and Spellbound, intended to acquire a controlling stake in NAI and then merge with Paramount under a stock deal. The companies had agreed on financial terms that included Skydance and its backer Redbird Capital paying US$1.5 billion in cash to reduce Paramount’s debt.

Redstone has been looking to sell her controlling stake in the media conglom since last year, and reports of Skydance’s interest first started to surface in December. This latest chapter in the ongoing saga that will determine the fate of Paramount Global opens the door again to other bidders such as Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management, which have continued to express interest in the company, even while backing away from a previous US$26 billion all-cash offer last month. 

Image courtesy: Hannah Wernecke/Unsplash