(Bloomberg) — Paramount Global’s board is considering removing Chief Executive Officer Bob Bakish and putting the film and TV company under a committee of top executives while it evaluates a possible sale, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
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The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Friday on the deliberations, citing people familiar with the matter. The committee would operate on an interim basis, the newspaper said. No decision has been made about Bakish’s future and it is possible the board could keep him in place.
The company declined to comment.
Paramount, the parent of CBS, MTV and other media properties, is controlled by its chair, Shari Redstone, meaning Bakish’s ouster would require her assent. Redstone and the company are in talks to sell a controlling stake in Paramount to David Ellison’s Skydance Media. An exclusive period of discussions with him is expected to end on May 3.
Some board members have been disappointed with Bakish’s decisions, according to people with knowledge of the matter. They include rejecting offers for the company’s Showtime and BET cable channels, which could have reduced Paramount’s exposure to the traditional TV industry and reduced debt.
Paramount’s independent directors are weighing a deal under which Skydance would pay over $2 billion for Redstone’s 77% voting stake in the company. Paramount would then merge with Skydance in a deal that gives Ellison and his backers control over the combined business. Some investors have complained the deal favors Redstone while diluting the ownership stake of other Paramount stockholders.
On a conference call with investors in February, Bakish said, “We’re always looking for ways to create shareholder value. And to be clear, that’s for all shareholders.”
Paramount shares have lost about 19% of their value this year as investors have voiced their displeasure with the possible terms of a deal with Ellison. On Friday, Matrix Asset Advisors sent a letter to the board urging members not do a deal with Ellison and consider other options. It was the second letter the investor has written the company this month.
Paramount has other potential suitors. Apollo Global Management Inc. and Sony Group Corp. are considering a joint bid for the company.
—With assistance from Michelle F. Davis.
(Updates board’s deliberations in fifth paragraph.)
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