[7] Paramount Global has faced significant financial challenges, worsened by losses in its streaming services, declining viewership across cable networks, and substantial debt management issues.

[8] National Amusements president Shari Redstone had expressed interest in selling her controlling stake in Paramount Global in December 2023 to Skydance.

[25] According to SEC standards, McCarthy had to be named as the company's "interim principal executive officer" in order for one person to oversee "the normal course of business".

When the board members of Paramount gathered together the next day to discuss taking a "go-shop" approach to other bids of this like, they finally agreed to start negotiating with Sony and Apollo's offer while continuing to have non-exclusive conversations with Skydance.

[28] In an effort to forward their proposal, Sony and Apollo signed non-disclosure agreements before May 17 that permitted them to look into Paramount's confidential financial data.

But at that same time, it was said that the businesses were reconsidering their strategy for a purchase involving the company's assets and were pulling back from their all-cash offer.

[37] On July 2, 2024, Skydance renegotiated the deal and reached a preliminary agreement to acquire National Amusements and merge with Paramount.

[38] The leadership team at Skydance approved of the possible sale of a number of Paramount properties that were judged "not strategic" for their goals, including BET and others.

[39] According to reports, Paramount started negotiations to sell BET Networks for $1.6–$1.7 billion to purchasers led by Scott Mills, the CEO of the business.

[41] The deal will close in two phases: first, a group of investors from Skydance will pay $2.4 billion in cash to purchase National Amusements, the parent company of Paramount Global; second, Paramount Global will pay its Class A and Class B stockholders $4.5 billion in cash and shares.

[49] The Writers Guild of America (WGA) had also voiced concerns about the consolidation trend in Hollywood, arguing that it could possibly lead to fewer choices and less diversity in content.

[50] Creatives like Jane Fonda and John Krasinski have voiced their support for David Ellison, while Mark Wahlberg described a merger with Skydance as a "win for the industry".