Shari Redstone prefers deal with Ellison over Apollo’s bid, FT reports

Paramount’s (PARA) controlling shareholder Shari Redstone is unconvinced by Apollo’s (APO) $11B offer for its Hollywood studio and is instead negotiating with billionaire David Ellison to secure the company’s future, Anna Nicolaou, James Fontanella-Khan, and Christopher Grimes of The Financial Times says. Ellison’s Skydance, which is backed by KKR (KKR), RedBird Capital, and Tencent (TCEHY), has been in talks with Redstone for months to acquire a majority stake in National Amusements, the holding company controlling Paramount. A successful deal would result in Ellison running a combined Paramount and Skydance.