Paramount’s Redstone to collect $180 million in severance, benefits

(Bloomberg) — Paramount Global President Shari Redstone will receive $180 million in severance and other benefits on top of hundreds of millions in the sale of her stock to a group led by director David Ellison, people familiar with the matter said.

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The Ellison family and its partner, RedBird Capital Partners, are paying about $1.75 billion to acquire the equity of National Amusements Inc., the Redstone family company that owns most of the voting stock in Paramount, parent of CBS and MTV.

Redstone owns a 20 percent stake in National Amusements through two trusts in her name and stands to receive about $350 million from its sale. The Ellison Group will also pay liabilities that include a $70 million severance package for Redstone and an unfunded pension of $110 million as part of its purchase of National Amusements, the people said, which asked not to be identified, discussing non-public information.

Ellison leads a group of investors ready to acquire majority control of Paramount, a major film and television company, for more than $8 billion.

The group is paying $2.4 billion for National Amusements, including debt, according to publicly reported details of the deal. It also plans to invest $6 billion to buy Paramount stock and reduce the company’s debt, and will merge the business with Ellison’s company, Skydance Media.

National Amusements includes the Redstone family’s original source of wealth, a movie theater chain. It is also the vehicle through which they own the majority of Paramount’s voting stock.

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