CBS Is Planning Offer for Sister Company Viacom

By Benjamin Mullin and Keach Hagey 

CBS Corp. is preparing to make an offer for sister media company Viacom Inc. in the coming weeks, following a meeting of CBS directors last week in which a potential deal was discussed, according to people familiar with the situation.

Representatives of CBS and Viacom have already had preliminary discussions about the outlines of a deal, one of the people said.

If the companies move ahead with talks, it would be a third attempt to reunite the media empire that was divided by mogul Sumner Redstone more than 13 years ago.

A deal is far from certain. Determining the price for a stock transaction -- which requires setting a value for the companies relative to each other -- is one major hurdle.

Picking a new leadership team is another challenge. Viacom Chief Executive Bob Bakish is widely believed by people close to the process to be in pole position to become CEO of the combined company. There is debate and discussion already about how the rest of the management team would fill out, people familiar with the situation said.

Shari Redstone, vice chairman of both companies, believes that CBS and Viacom would be better positioned to compete with larger rivals as one company. She is president of National Amusements Inc., which controls both CBS and Viacom.

Write to Benjamin Mullin at [e-mail] and Keach Hagey at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 18, 2019 16:12 ET (20:12 GMT)

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