National Amusements Seeks Potential Board Members for Viacom

A shakeup of Viacom Inc.'s board is in the works.

National Amusements Inc., the holding company through which media titan Sumner Redstone controls Viacom, has started the process of recruiting potential board members for the entertainment giant, people familiar with the matter said.

The move comes just a few weeks after Mr. Redstone last month ousted Viacom Chairman and Chief Executive Philippe Dauman and board member George Abrams from the board of National Amusements and the trust that will oversee the mogul's holdings when he dies or is declared incapacitated. Their exit has been seen as a precursor to shaking up the Viacom board and the possible removal of Mr. Dauman from the company.

Messrs. Dauman and Abrams have filed suit to try to block their dismissal from the trust and Viacom's independent board members indicated last week that they are preparing for a legal fight to keep their seats. The executives and the board members say the 93-year-old Mr. Redstone doesn't have the mental capacity to act on his own free will.

A spokesman for Mr. Redstone declined to comment Thursday on possible changes to the Viacom board. Previously, the spokesman said Mr. Redstone will "make every decision with the same deliberation and consideration with which he removed Philippe Dauman and George Abrams as trustees, based on the best interests of shareholders." Mr. Redstone's doctor last week said he has "legal mental capacity" to make the decisions he has made.

Among the names under consideration by National Amusements for the Viacom board are Kenneth Lerer, Nicole Seligman and Judith McHale, according to people close to the process.

All three are well known in media circles. Mr. Lerer is a former Time Warner executive, who also is co-founder of the Huffington Post and is chairman of BuzzFeed. Ms. Seligman is a former president of Sony Entertainment who acted as one of Bill Clinton's lawyers during his impeachment hearings. Ms. McHale was for many years a top executive at Discovery Communications Corp., the cable programming giant. She also served in the Obama administration as Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

Talks between National Amusements and the candidates are preliminary, one person involved in the matter said. Leading the effort is Shari Redstone, the daughter of Mr. Redstone and a trustee as well a National Amusements board member and a vice chairman of Viacom and CBS Corp., the other media company Mr. Redstone controls.

According to one candidate, Ms. Redstone made an approach a few weeks ago. A spokeswoman for Ms. Redstone declined to comment. A Viacom spokesman declined to comment. News of the possible board replacements was first reported by the New York Times.

That National Amusements is actively looking to replace the Viacom board will likely add even more fuel to an already large fire. Mr. Dauman has accused Ms. Redstone in his lawsuit of manipulating her father into making these changes. Ms. Redstone has denied those charges.

Viacom's assets include cable channels MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central as well as the Paramount Pictures movie studio. The company has been struggling in recent years and its stock has fallen significantly during Mr. Dauman's tenure.

Write to Joe Flint at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 10, 2016 00:25 ET (04:25 GMT)

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