Sony’s Tony Vinciquerra Says Paramount Talks Are “Still Progressing” Despite Skydance Sweetening Deal; CEO Hits ‘Bad Boys: Ride Or Die’ Premiere Red Carpet

Paramount Global‘s unorthodox Office of the CEO, which started as a presumed placeholder, is turning into a longer-term fixture poised to once again reshape the tempest-tossed company.

Paramount Global and its predecessor companies have gone through several tumultuous decades. Here’s a timeline of key events that led up to the company’s most recent M&A drama, in this week’s cover story: What Went Wrong: Inside Paramount’s Failed Merger Talks and the Battle to Salvage the Company. MARCH 4, 1987: Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements Inc.

Shari Redstone, it was nothing personal. But the longer the negotiations went on, the more Redstone fell out of love with the idea of marrying her family’s legacy to David Ellison’s Skydance Media. So on June 11, as board members of Paramount Global were about to hold a key meeting on the long-gestating deal to merge with Skydance, Redstone was out — even as those around her were still scrambling to get it done.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Christa D’Alimonte, Paramount Global‘s EVP, general counsel and secretary, is exiting at the end of the month after 12 years at the company and its predecessor Viacom. D’Alimonte on Tuesday informed her team that she will be leaving the company on June 28 (read the memo below).

Paramount Global General Counsel Christa D’Alimonte has told colleagues she will be exiting the company at the end of the month.

Paramount co-CEOs George Cheeks, Brian Robbins and Chris McCarthy thanked staff in a memo today, obtained by Deadline, for a few tough months rocked by Skydance merger speculation. With that deal a no go, they said, they have plan, one mostly laid out at last week’s annual shareholders meeting, to take the company into the future.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor David Ellison, chief executive of Skydance Media, thanked employees of his company for their focus as he was engaged in a months-long bid to merge with Paramount Global. And even though that effort failed, he said that Skydance is stronger after having gone through the M&A cycle.

This just in tonight from Skydance Boss David Ellison as Paramount Global controlling shareholder Shari Redstone says “No” to Skydance’s offer to buy National Amusements. The Top Gun: Maverick and Geostorm producer has acknowledged to staff that Skydance’s bid to merge with Paramount has ended.

When David Ellison’s Skydance made a play for Paramount last fall it was how and when (not if) Shari Redstone would tie the knot. Paramount and Skydance worked together. He valued the studio and its crown jewel of a backlot and planned to keep the company together. He was offering her a nice bundle of cash for her stake in National Amusements.

After months of negotiations, Paramount‘s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone has broken off merger talks with David Ellison‘s Skydance.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After more than six months of on-again-off-again talks, Shari Redstone has ended negotiations with David Ellison‘s Skydance Media about a prospective merger with Paramount Global. Redstone is Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder through National Amusements Inc., which owns 77% of the voting shares in Paramount.

Paramount Global, which continues to explore its M&A options, has updated the compensation plans for the three execs in the Office of the CEO and re-upped Chief People Officer Nancy Phillips.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor As an M&A event looms on the horizon for Paramount Global, the three execs in the conglomerate’s “Office of the CEO” are now eligible for stepped-up severance payments in the event of a sale or merger — and the company also will award them cash bonuses for the time they serve as co-CEOs. The move comes as Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, is evaluating a merger offer from David Ellison’s Skydance Media, which the Paramount Global board’s special committee has recommended.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Shari Redstone may have yet another offer on the table to buy National Amusements Inc., the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global — the latest twist in the months-long M&A drama swirling around the troubled media conglomerate. Erstwhile media mogul Edgar Bronfman Jr. is teaming with investment firm Bain Capital to put together an offer of up to $2.5 billion for Redstone’s National Amusements, sources confirmed.

Shares of Paramount Global edged lower Thursday, day three in the red, amid lingering uncertainty around Skydance’s latest offer. With bigger than anticipated sweeteners for Class B shareholders, it was approved by Par’s special board committee and sent on to controlling shareholder Shari Redstone but with no announcement forthcoming.

A town hall for Paramount Global employees originally scheduled to take place Wednesday has been delayed until June 25.

As Paramount Global controlling shareholder Shari Redstone mulls the terms of a merger between her conglom and Skydance, the network/studio/streaming service trotted out their best and brightest CEO troika this early AM in annual global stockholders meet to tout their hit parade of 14 billion dollar revenue earning franchises across all mediums, their assurance to cut $500 million in overhead, and maximize shareholder value and profits.

Shari Redstone, Paramount Global‘s non-executive chair and controlling shareholder, sought to sell shareholders at the company’s annual meeting Tuesday on the potential of the three-member Office of the CEO.

Paramount Global shares rose 7.5% to close at $12.80 Monday on the news that a long-awaited merger with Skydance Media moved closer to completion.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Paramount Global‘s months-long M&A drama may soon be coming to a conclusion. The special committee established by Paramount Global’s board of directors to evaluate M&A proposals has reached an agreement with David Ellison’s Skydance Media and his private-equity backers on the terms of a complicated deal that would merge Skydance and Paramount while keeping Paramount publicly traded, Variety has confirmed. Skydance and its partners, RedBird Capital and KKR, sweetened the original buyout offer to make it more attractive to nonvoting shareholders of Paramount Global.