Paramount has resumed merger talks with independent production studio Skydance Media just weeks after an earlier deal fell apart at the last minute, people briefed about the matter said. The renewed bid from Skydance included a higher offer to get the deal done, the people said. Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount, abruptly ended negotiations in the first go-around last month.
There was no certainty a new deal would be reached and Paramount shareholders had a 45 day “go shop” right to seek a higher offer from other potential suitors, the people with knowledge of the matter said. Barry Diller, the New York media mogul who lost out to Redstone’s father Sumner in the 1990s in a hotly contested bidding war for Paramount, had also been looking into buying a controlling stake in the Hollywood company, the people said.