Sumner Redstone's National Amusements to Call on Viacom and CBS to Explore Merger--Update
September 28 2016 - 12:25PM
Dow Jones News
By Keach Hagey
National Amusements Inc., the controlling shareholder of Viacom
Inc. and CBS Corp., is set to call for the media companies to
consider a merger, according to a person familiar with the
matter.
National Amusements, which is controlled by Sumner Redstone and
has nearly 80% voting stakes in both companies, is preparing a
letter it plans to send to the boards as soon as this week, the
person said.
Such a move would come after Mr. Redstone's daughter, Shari
Redstone, rose to power in her father's $40 billion empire after a
bruising power struggle that played out this summer. She is
president of National Amusements and is set to wield great
influence over the family's holdings when Mr. Redstone, who is 93
and ailing, dies.
A CBS-Viacom deal would be a reunion. Viacom acquired CBS in
2000 and the companies split in 2006.
Write to Keach Hagey at keach.hagey@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 28, 2016 12:10 ET (16:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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