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A town hall for Paramount Global employees originally scheduled to take place Wednesday has been postponed until June 25.
In a note to employees obtained by Deadline, CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins summarized Tuesday morning’s annual shareholder meeting and also noted the town hall reshuffle. “Given the ongoing speculation about possible mergers and acquisitions, we want to be able to talk to you with as much openness and transparency as possible. By moving the date we hope to do just that,” they wrote.
The shift comes as Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone is considering a merger offer from Skydance. The shareholder meeting largely ignored the topic of mergers and acquisitions, and instead gave Redstone the opportunity to argue for the unorthodox Office of the CEO structure. She admitted it was unusual, but said it would leverage the collective experience of three top executives, both within the company and in the entertainment industry. Cheeks, Robbins and McCarthy were installed in their new roles in April following the ouster of Bob Bakish.
The troika outlined a plan for shareholders to save $500 million in annual overhead and juice streaming revenue through licensing and a potential joint venture or strategic partnership with a media or technology company. While more information can be expected to be revealed at the town hall later this month, the CEOs also hinted at Paramount’s next quarterly earnings in August as a time when the investment community can expect more details.
Paramount shares fell 4% on Tuesday in the wake of the meeting, after rising on Monday amid rumors that Skydance was close to a long-sought merger deal. According to a Reuters report, Redstone did not appreciate that Skydance’s revised offer satisfied many Class B (non-voting) shareholders and reduced its returns. To create more money for shareholders, the David Ellison-led suitor cut the deal’s valuation from $5 billion to $4.75 billion, the report said. (That price tag excludes the roughly $3 billion first step of the acquisition of Redstone’s National Amusements, which controls 77% of Paramount’s Class A shares, or voting stock.)