Viacom 'In Exclusive Talks' About Paramount Stake Sale to Dalian Wanda

The Chinese bidder seeks to add to its film content as the governance row at the would-be seller rages.
By Laura Board ,

Acquisitive Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group  is reportedly looking to add more content to its film distribution capacity by taking a minority stake in Viacom's (VIAB) - Get Report Paramount Pictures unit.

The Los Angeles Times said a 49% stake is under discussion, while Reuters also reported that the Chinese company has held talks with Viacom about the purchase.

The reported discussions come as Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman fights a bitter court battle with Shari Redstone, Viacom's vice chairman and the daughter of ailing controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone.

Paramount itself has become a flashpoint for the row, with a sale of Paramount not possible without the consent of Redstone senior.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Dauman had initially shopped the maker of The Wolf of Wall Street and the Ring franchise to a wider group, then narrowed the field to two bidders. In recent days, the paper reported, it  had started exclusive talks with Dalian Wanda, which is controlled by Wang Jianlin.

For Dalian Wanda a purchase would follow its January acquisition for $3.5 billion of Legendary Entertainment, while its AMC Entertainment (AMC) - Get Report cinema chain is attempting to buy Carmike Cinemas (CKEC) for $1.1 billion. On Tuesday AMC struck a £921 million ($1.2 billion) deal in the U.K. to buy Odeon & UCI Cinemas from Terra Firma Capital Partners.

Reuters cited two people familiar with the situation and noted that a deal won't necessarily materialize from the talks.

In a court filing on June 27 Dauman and director George Abrams charged Shari Redstone with "undue influence" over her father. They argue that it wasn't Redstone senior's intention that his children had a say in running the business.

Leon Lazaroff contributed to this report.

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