The battle between Skydance and Sony Pictures Entertainment/Apollo over Paramount Global has gone almost two weeks without any action.
But at Sony Pictures Entertainment’s investor event tonight (tomorrow morning Tokyo time), CEO Tony Vinciquerra took center stage, giving a presentation alongside other heads of the conglomerate and answering a few questions.
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Analysts didn’t ask about Sony’s appetite for Paramount Global, and Vinciquerra didn’t say anything about the unknown, but he did hint at something when asked about a strategic investment on the conference call.
“We are looking for strategic investments that are complementary to our strategy. We are not going to stray from the strategy that has been so successful for us over the last few years,” he said. “We are not going to make investments that are not complementary to our core strategy. Our strategy is to sell more IP, more products, more libraries. We are not going to get into other businesses. We are not going to get into general entertainment streaming services. We are not going to operate other businesses that are outside of the strategy that we have defined.”
This could be code for Sony not being interested in the streaming service Paramount+. As far as we know, Sony was looking to get into Paramount’s TV and film production. Some industry insiders believe Apollo wants the studio lots primarily as real estate investments. Paramount Global’s CBS broadcast assets need to be sold because Sony may not be able to own them under foreign ownership regulations and may simply not want them. Currently, Apollo’s broadcast holdings exceed the congressionally mandated broadcast cap.
Last we heard, Sony’s bid to buy Paramount Global had been scaled back from $26 billion and talks had begun on a smaller deal.
Deadline reports that David Ellison’s Skydance is still in negotiations, trying to come up with an attractive offer that would be acceptable to Paramount. A merger with Skydance is hugely popular in Hollywood but frowned upon by Paramount shareholders. Some sources say there could be some movement soon.
Parr has its annual shareholder meeting next Tuesday morning, which isn’t a big announcement for a company, but some shareholders may have questions about it. Parr is in a bit of a delicate situation after ousting CEO Bob Bakish and installing a new CEO office with three chief executives.
Much of the evening’s conversation was spent with Vinciquerra promoting Sony Entertainment’s television and film businesses.
“Crunchyroll will be our growth engine over the next few years,” he said of the studio’s anime division, while touting Crunchyroll’s 13 million subscribers.
“We will be launching Amazon Channels in India and Southeast Asia soon,” Vinciquerra said, adding that the aim is to build content for those regions.
more…..
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