The ongoing drama over who will buy media giant Paramount (NASDAQ:PARA), or who will be sold to Paramount in Skydance Media’s case, continues. Today, Paramount was down nearly 3% in the closing minutes of Wednesday’s trading as the latest part of the saga unfolds. A recent report from the Wall Street Journal suggests that three of Paramount’s board of directors are looking to leave the Company altogether.
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Rob Klieger, Dawn Ostroff, and Nicole Seligman are all set to depart over the next several weeks. What’s particularly interesting is that these three are all part of an independent board that was supposed to find the “best possible deal” for Paramount.
With reports suggesting a bit of a roundabout deal where National Amusements—Paramount’s parent company—is set to sell itself to Skydance Media, and then Paramount will buy Skydance for roughly $5 billion, it’s clear that this deal is getting pretty complex. Seeing how it all ultimately irons out should be quite the sight.
Shareholders Revolt
Then, just to add one more twist to the already-complex web of deals and counter-deals, reports noted that shareholder Aspen Sky Trust—who holds just over 6.5 million shares of Paramount—is getting together with fellow shareholder Matrix Asset Advisors to oppose the current talks with Skydance. Among the reasons for the opposition is “…dilution of shareholder value,” as well as various components of the sale “…transcend(ing) ethical boundaries….” among other points.
Meanwhile, Aspen Sky Trust also notes that the deals previously noted from Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) and Byron Allen do not pose “…anywhere near the same reward-risk scenario.”
Is Paramount Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on PARA stock based on six Buys, eight Holds, and seven Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 52.84% loss in its share price over the past year, the average PARA price target of $13.29 per share implies 26.69% upside potential.
