Paramount Global stock fell 5% on Monday as investors absorbed details of the company’s merger agreement with Skydance Media.The companies are targeting a closing of the deal in the third quarter of 2025. Skydance and its backers are investing $8 billion in Paramount in a transaction assigning the company an enterprise value of $28 billion.Paramount stock, which has already fallen 22% in 2024 to date, closed at $11.18, down 5% for the day. Trading volume was about twice its normal level.The company’s dual-class structure, a not-uncommon setup for media stocks, gave preference to holders of Class A (voting) shares. National Amusements, the Shari Redstone-run owner of a controlling stake in Paramount, held about 77% of Class A shares but just 10% of the company’s total equity. Skydance will own about 70% of outstanding shares.Since the Skydance talks began last December, Class B shareholders had been making noises about being devalued. The unrest was considerable enough that protection from lawsuits that could be filed by aggrieved shareholders became a key point in negotiations.In the proposed combination, holders of Class A shares will get $23 in cash or stock, while Class B shareholders will get $15 a share. Compared with initial overtures from Skydance, the current proposal has been sweetened for Class B shareholders. One wild card as well is the deal’s “go-shop” period, which allows other bidders to bring offers forward over the next 45 days.Analysts had generally mixed reactions to the merger news, matching the overall investor sentiment, as they digested financial projections and comments during a nearly hourlong call with Skydance principals this morning.Michael Morris with Guggenheim continues to rate Paramount shares a “buy,” but he expressed some reservations in a note to clients.“At a high level, new leadership’s strategic focus on content creation, technology investments and financial discipline are rational, and we believe Skydance leadership is positioned to drive creative and operational improvements,” he wrote. “That said, specific details on key issues including future structure of the streaming service, management of the portfolio of linear network assets, and expanded use of technology to drive growth remain in development. When combined with the length of time to close (expected in September 2025) and relatively high valuation compared to media peers … we expect investor enthusiasm to remain tempered.”Doug Creutz of TD Cowen, who has a “hold” rating” on the stock, summed up his sentiments in the title of his report to clients: “New Ownership, New Leadership, Old Issues.” Teaming with Skydance offers a “mild positive for Paramount’s longer-term fundamentals, largely due to the deleveraging from $1.5 billion in cash being infused to Paramount’s balance sheet,” he wrote, “but we don’t think the deal significantly impacts competitive positioning or changes exposure to industry headwinds.”
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