Paramount invites more offers
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.NEW YORK - Directors of Paramount, responding to court criticism of their handling of takeover talks, said yesterday they had abandoned their preference for Viacom's dollars 9.6bn tender bid and called for 'best and highest offers' by 20 December, writes Larry Black.
But the board surprised many people by deciding not to create a special committee of outside directors to judge the competing bids despite complaints by a Delaware appeals court last week that it had neglected its fiduciary duty by agreeing to terms that 'locked up' a merger with Viacom.
The new procedures will still leave Paramount considerable latitude to favour Viacom's friendly offer over the dollars 10bn hostile bid by QVC Network. But Paramount dropped other biased bidding rules and said it would favour an offer that protected shareholders against a later 'squeeze-out merger' that would allow the new owner to force them out on unfavourable terms.
Paramount said its board now had a preference offer comprising cash and preferred shares - as opposed to common equity in the newly merged company - and favoured an unconditional transaction with as few regulatory uncertainties as possible.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments