(Changes three members on board to four in headline and para 1,adds Frederick Terrell in para 2, shares in para 4, details inparas 7,9,10)
April 10 (Reuters) – Four members of Paramount Global\’sboard are expected to step down soon as theentertainment giant controlled by Shari Redstone discusses amerger with Skydance Media, the Wall Street Journal reported onWednesday.
Former Spotify executive Dawn Ostroff, SonyEntertainment ex-president Nicole Seligman, Redstone attorneyRob Klieger and investment banker Frederick Terrell are expectedto leave the board in the next few weeks, the report said citingpeople familiar with the matter.
Paramount declined to comment. Klieger did not immediatelyrespond to a Reuters request for comment, while the other threedirectors could not be immediately reached.
Shares of the company fell nearly 4%.
Earlier this month, a source told Reuters that Paramount\’sboard had agreed to enter exclusive merger talks with SkydanceMedia, which is led by CEO David Ellison, son of Oracleco-founder Larry Ellison.
A deal would combine Paramount with Ellison\’s independentmedia house that is behind films such as \”Top Gun: Maverick\” and\”Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.\”
Seligman, who is also on the board of OpenAI, Terrell andOstroff are on a special committee of independent directorstasked with pursuing the best possible deal for Paramount,whether that is with Skydance or another suitor, the Journalreported on Wednesday.
It added at least one of the directors who is stepping downexpressed concern about the potential Skydance deal.
The structure of the proposed deal has also faced criticismfrom some investors, who have voiced concerns in letters to theboard the deal would be good for Redstone but would diluteParamount\’s non-voting shareholders, the Journal said.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram and Priyanka G in Bengaluru; Editingby Shinjini Ganguli and Krishna Chandra Eluri)
