Paramount Global's future has been the subject of speculation for several months. Skydance is not the first to have tried to get its hands on the company. Last April, Japan's Sony Pictures Entertainment and the Apollo Global Management fund tried to buy the company, but no agreement was reached. Byron Allen, founder of the Allen Media Group, also tried to approach the company with a $14.3 billion bid. A few months earlier, there were serious rumors of a potential mega-merger between Warner Bros, Discovery and Paramount. None of this came to fruition, as the Redstone family, owners of 77% of the voting shares, were reluctant to sell the family jewel.

The jewel has now lost its lustre, however, and it would appear that the Redstone family has finally accepted it, saying "yes" to Skydance. The owner of the CBS, MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon television channels, and one of Hollywood's oldest studios - the creator of such famous franchises as Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Mission: Impossible and SpongeBob SquarePants - has seen its share price plummet in recent years. Despite a virulent surge during the Covid, the stock is now a long way from the $70 that characterized it in 2017. This is due to a number of factors, including a mountain of debt that is frightening given the group's difficulties in generating cash, increased competition from streaming platforms and a lack of prospects. Without concrete action today (investments or debt reduction to put the meagre cash to good use), Paramount Global's future is but an illusion. Thanks to the $8 billion Skydance package, $1.5 billion will be used to strengthen the balance sheet. The merger itself will be financed by $4.5 billion, while the purchase of the family holding company, National Amusements, which holds the Redstone family stake, will cost $2.4 billion. In any case, former shareholders will be the clear losers, as the offer price does not compensate for the fall in the share price in recent months.