Paramount Leadership Lay Out Shared Vision Takeover Offer
Paramount Global’s new trio of co-CEOs laid out their vision for the Hollywood studio as the controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, mulls a sweetened takeover offer from a buyer consortium led by Skydance and RedBird Capital.
Redstone addressed the investors as the meeting began, indicating the company’s most important goal was “driving value for all our shareholders,” as she put her support behind the studio’s new leadership.
“While we recognize that this is not a traditional management structure, we are confident that it will enable them to move quickly to implement best practices throughout the company to drive improved performance,” Redstone added.
The opened the way for the trio of executives – George Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS; Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios; and Brian Robbins, president and CEO of Paramount Pictures – to outline a “shared vision” for the studio.
“Our plan looks forward to build back the best of Paramount by delivering higher revenue with lower costs, which translates to higher earnings and better returns,” Robbins told shareholders.
Cheeks added Paramount would be “transforming streaming,” to get closer to profitability, “reduce non-content costs,” by eyeing around $500 million in annual cost cutting.
The meeting took place against the backdrop of Redstone and her National Amusements vehicle looking at a revised deal for the studio, and her own options. Cheeks, McCarthy and Robbins have led the studio since the previous CEO, Bob Bakish, left Paramount in April when Paramount first begain exclusive merger talks with Skydance.
More to come.
