The clock ran out today on Skydance Media’s $8 billion agreement to merge with Paramount Global, originally slated to close by April 7, but the deal remains in limbo as the companies await approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Under the terms of the pact, brokered after months of turbulent negotiations, the deadline has now automatically extended for an additional 90 days, pushing the new target to July 7, 2025. If regulatory hurdles persist beyond that date, a second 90-day extension could kick in, keeping the merger alive but unresolved into the fall.
The agreement, finalized on July 7, 2024, by Paramount’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone and Skydance, hinges on regulatory green lights that have so far proven elusive. While the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the deal in February, and the European Commission followed suit that same month—dismissing any significant anti-competitive concerns—the FCC has yet to weigh in. Unlike its counterparts, the FCC has no fixed deadline to rule, leaving the merger’s fate hanging in a regulatory purgatory.
The holdup stems from a tangle of political and legal pressures. Before the 2024 election, President Donald Trump filed a $20 billion lawsuit against CBS News, a Paramount division, alleging deceptive editing in a 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump’s suit, which Paramount and CBS last month moved to dismiss as “an affront to the First Amendment,” has cast a shadow over the FCC’s review. Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, has signaled that the lawsuit will factor into the agency’s decision, amplifying uncertainty.
Carr’s influence extends beyond the lawsuit. Last month, he vowed to block media mergers involving companies with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, aligning with Trump’s aggressive anti-DEI agenda. The FCC, under Carr’s direction, has launched probes into DEI practices at Disney/ABC and Comcast/NBCUniversal, citing concerns over what he calls “invidious forms of DEI.” Paramount, anticipating this scrutiny, announced in February that it would scale back some DEI initiatives to comply with the administration’s stance—a move that has sparked debate about corporate autonomy in the face of regulatory overreach.
The Skydance-Paramount deal, with an enterprise value pegged at $28 billion, promises a major shakeup in the media landscape. Skydance, valued at $4.75 billion in the merger, brings its production heft—think Mission: Impossible—to Paramount’s storied assets, including CBS and the Paramount film studio. National Amusements Inc. (NAI) shareholders, led by Redstone, will pocket $1.75 billion plus the assumption of NAI’s $650 million debt, totaling a $2.4 billion enterprise value. Paramount’s Class B common shareholders are set to receive $15 per share. Funding comes largely from the Ellison family—Oracle founder Larry Ellison is contributing $6 billion—alongside $2 billion from RedBird Capital Partners. An October filing clarified that Skydance CEO David Ellison, not Larry, will hold 100% of the family’s voting interests in the merged entity.
For now, the automatic 90-day extension keeps hope alive, triggered because all closing conditions—save for regulatory approvals—have been met or waived. But with no firm FCC timeline and Carr’s dual focus on the 60 Minutes suit and DEI policies, the merger’s path remains fraught. As Skydance and Paramount wait, the industry watches closely: will this deal cement a new media titan, or will it crumble under the weight of a tariff war’s collateral damage? July 7, 2025, looms as the next critical checkpoint.
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