It was just two days ago when Skydance fought back at Project Rise Partners’ attempt to derail the merger between itself and entertainment giant Paramount (PARA). But Project Rise was having none of it, and reportedly declared that Skydance’s assertions were “flat-out wrong.” But a judge seems to have agreed, and the summer deadline looks shakier than ever. Paramount investors are shrugging it off, though, sending shares up fractionally in the closing minutes of Thursday’s trading.
The newest reports say that a Delaware judge formally canceled an “…expedited trial of shareholder claims…” from a New York City public pension fund. But, the fund’s lawyer, Michael Barry of Grant & Eisenhofer PA, agreed to drop the request for an injunction blocking the sale to Skydance for “…targeted disclosures.”
Meanwhile, Kathaleen St. J. McCormick, the Chancery Court’s chief judge, declared that Project Rise Partners would have “…a good bit of explaining to do…” about the proceedings. Project Rise’s lawyer, Thomas Watson—a partner with Steptoe LLP—seemed prepared to do just that, spelling out that the accusations Skydance’s lawyers made stemmed from a September 2024 deal sheet that was really only tentative to begin with. Watson declared Skydance’s allegations “…out of context…flat-out wrong, and they’re improperly designed to cause damage.”.
A Changing of the Guard in Streaming
Meanwhile, Paramount is renovating one of its streaming services in Europe, particularly Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. The My5 BVOD platform will now be known simply as 5, and offer not only content from the Channel 5 linear network, but also some of Paramount’s other content, including not only the linear channels—like CBS, MTV, and Comedy Central—but also some of the content from Paramount+.
This actually supplants earlier plans to merge My5 with Pluto TV, and will instead give rise to a 5 that just looks a lot like Pluto TV, complete with 15 free ad-supported television (FAST) channels that are built from Paramount properties. Among these will include the MTV Reality content, shows like Police Interceptors and The Yorkshire Vet, and the Channel 5 children’s block known as Milkshake!.
Is Paramount Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on PARA stock based on two Buys, six Holds and five Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 4.86% rally in its share price over the past year, the average PARA price target of $12.50 per share implies 7.2% upside potential.
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