The proposed blockbuster merger between Hollywood studios Paramount and Skydance Media received a new challenge this week.
The Center for American Rights (CAR), a nonprofit law firm, has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to challenge the $8.4 billion deal, initially announced in early July. In the filing, CAR expressed concerns over an investment in Skydance by China-based tech company Tencent.
FCC commissioner Brendan Carr responded to the filing on social media, saying: “This filing from CAR raises what it describes as significant concerns, including ones that go to CBS’s adherence to the public interest standard. The FCC will need to address these concerns.”
The FCC is scrutinizing the acquisition because it involves Skydance buying CBS broadcast licenses, Carr added.
The planned deal is worth $8.4 billion and is anticipated to close in 2025, marking the end of the Redstone family’s nearly three decades of control over Paramount, which owns, in addition to CBS, the CW TV network, Comedy Central, and MTV. Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison and RedBird Capital Partners are key investors in the deal, which will set up an entity called New Paramount. The merger would make Skydance founder David Ellison, son of Larry, the CEO of New Paramount, and Jeff Shell, former CEO of NBCUniversal, president.
The merger has previously been subject to scrutiny, as shareholder Scott Baker filed a proposed class action suit in July, saying Class B shareholders had no say in the deal and stand to lose.