After clearing its last regulatory hurdle earlier this week, Paramount Global says its $8 billion merger with Skydance Media will close on August 7, subject to customary closing conditions.
In a press release issued late Friday afternoon, Paramount said its common stock shareholders have until July 31 to determine if they want to receive cash from the conversion of their stock after the merger or shares in the newly-formed company. Common stock held by a bank or financial institution — which is common among retail investors — may be subject to an earlier deadline as imposed by the bank, Paramount said.
Paramount’s current or former employees have until July 28 to cash out their retirement accounts based on Paramount’s current common stock or roll over their accounts into a new one when the merger is finished.
Under Skydance’s ownership, Paramount will continue on as a publicly-traded company. On the NASDAQ, the new Paramount will trade under the ticker symbol PSKY, the company affirmed.
Paramount announced its $8 billion merger with Skydance Media around this time last year. The deal involves the famed Paramount Pictures movie studio, the CBS broadcast network, more than a dozen cable networks under the MTV and Showtime brands, more than two dozen CBS-owned local television stations and related properties like CBS News, CBS Sports, Paramount Plus and Pluto TV.
Last year, Skydance said it was willing to pay nearly $2 billion to buy out National Amusement’s majority stake in Paramount, then merge with Paramount through an all-stock transaction that values the deal at $8 billion.
The deal cleared numerous regulatory hurdles, though the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decided not to act on the transfer of CBS broadcast TV licenses until certain conditions were met. That included a legal settlement between Paramount and President Donald Trump over allegations of news distortion related to a broadcast with his then-political rival last year, and assurances that Paramount will end its diversity, equity and inclusiveness (DEI) practices once the deal closes, among other concessions.
The FCC approved the license transfer matter late Thursday afternoon. Paramount and CBS own television stations in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Detroit, San Francisco, Sacramento, Seattle, Pittsburgh and other major markets.
