‘We Are Stronger Because of This Process’

David Ellison, chief government of Skydance Media, thanked workers of his firm for his or her focus as he was engaged in a months-long bid to merge with Paramount World. And despite the fact that that effort failed, he stated that Skydance is stronger after having gone by means of the M&A cycle.

On Tuesday, Shari Redstone’s Nationwide Amusements, the controlling shareholder of Paramount World, stated as a result of it was not ready “to succeed in mutually acceptable phrases concerning the potential transaction with Skydance Media for the acquisition of a controlling stake in NAI.”

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In a memo to Skydance staffers Tuesday night obtained by Selection, Ellison wrote, “As you all know, for the final a number of months we’ve got been actively exploring a transaction to accumulate NAI and merge with Paramount World, and immediately that chapter ended.”

“Skydance is stronger than ever due to you, and we’re stronger due to this course of,” he wrote. “For starters, we’re smarter. We all know extra about our enterprise, our potential, and {the marketplace} at massive.”

Ellison thanked his group within the memo, writing, “Whereas I used to be centered on this effort, you all doubled down on Skydance. In simply a short while since we went again to work after a historic two-guild strike, you’ve got delivered extra TV product in our firm’s historical past, hit online game franchises, Emmy-winning sports activities content material, and a function movie slate that’s our business’s best. For all of this and extra, I thanks.”

Paramount and Skydance have labored collectively for greater than a decade as companions on the “Mission: Unimaginable” and “Transformers” movie franchises in addition to “Prime Gun: Maverick,” the No. 2 movie on the field workplace in 2022. “Paramount will all the time maintain a particular place for me,” Ellison wrote within the memo, noting that Skydance had its first slate cope with the studio they usually proceed to co-own “a number of marquee franchises collectively. I’ve nice respect for the legacy of Paramount, worth our ongoing partnership and want them the perfect.”

Learn Ellison’s full memo:

From: David Ellison
Date: June 11, 2024 at 7:13 PM PDT
To: All Skydance
Topic: Thank You

Group,

As you all know, for the final a number of months we’ve got been actively exploring a transaction to accumulate NAI and merge with Paramount World, and immediately that chapter ended.

Whereas I used to be centered on this effort, you all doubled down on Skydance. In simply a short while since we went again to work after a historic two guild strike, you’ve got delivered extra TV product in our firm’s historical past, hit online game franchises, Emmy-winning sports activities content material, and a function movie slate that’s our business’s best. For all of this and extra, I thanks.

Skydance is stronger than ever due to you, and we’re stronger due to this course of. For starters, we’re smarter. We all know extra about our enterprise, our potential, and {the marketplace} at massive. We’re extra assured than ever – not nearly Skydance however about the way forward for leisure and our capability to proceed constructing a subsequent era content material firm on our phrases, with the best capital, artistic and technological sources and expertise within the business. The underside line: our future is extremely vivid and tomorrow we’ll preserve constructing to make it even higher.

Paramount will all the time maintain a particular place for me, we had our first slate cope with the studio and proceed to co-own a number of marquee franchises collectively. I’ve nice respect for the legacy of Paramount, worth our ongoing partnership and want them the perfect.

Lastly, once more, I need to thank every of you on your endurance and assist as we chart the subsequent part of Skydance. We have now lots to look ahead to.

Greatest,

David Ellison
Chief Govt Officer, Skydance Media

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