Hollywood giant Paramount has agreed to a $28 billion merger.

Skydance Media, an independent film studio, and Paramount Global, one of Hollywood’s oldest corporations, have decided to unite.

In accordance with the agreement, Shari Redstone, the non-executive chair of Paramount, will sell her family’s majority ownership of the business in a convoluted deal that would create a new company valued at about $28 billion (£21.9 billion).

For the Redstone family, it is the end of an era. Their late patriarch, Sumner Redstone, built a massive media company out of a network of drive-in theaters.

In addition to Paramount, the networks that make up this group are CBS, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and MTV.

In a statement, Ms. Redstone stated, “We hope that the Skydance transaction will enable Paramount’s continued success in this rapidly changing environment.”

The corporation claims that its TV channels are available in more than 180 countries and have a global subscriber base of over 4.3 billion people.

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The proposed merger would unite Paramount, the studio behind beloved movies like Chinatown and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, with its financier for a number of high-profile recent releases, such as Star Trek Into Darkness and Top Gun: Maverick.

In accordance with the deal, Skydance will contribute almost $8 billion to Paramount, including $2.4 billion to National Amusements, the company that owns the group.

Although National Amusements only holds 10% of the shares of Paramount Group, it is responsible for over 80% of its voting rights.

Paramount stated that it planned to complete the transaction by the upcoming summer.

The establishment of Paramount Pictures Corporation in 1914 marks the beginning of Paramount Global’s history, spanning over a century.

The Godfather, Star Trek, and Mission: Impossible series are just a few of the popular movies the studio has produced.

But for the last ten years, the massive entertainment company has had difficulties. The last five years have seen a greater than 75% decline in Paramount Global’s shares.

David Ellison, the son of US technology tycoon Larry Ellison, is the owner of Skydance.

Following eight months of negotiations, during which Redstone held discussions with several possible partners, including Sony and the private equity company Apollo, the news was made.

Bob Bakish, the CEO of Paramount, departed the firm in April following a disagreement with Ms. Redstone on the proposed Skydance acquisition.

The agreement is made at a time when the video-streaming revolution is drastically changing the worldwide entertainment landscape.

SOURCE : BBC NEWS