Gerry Cardinale: The dealmaker behind the Skydance-Paramount deal

Skydance’s merger with Paramount is scheduled to close in the first half of 2025, Paramount has confirmed. A key player in the negotiations is Skydance’s private equity backer, RedBird Capital Partners. The Ellisons and RedBird will invest $6 billion and $2 billion, respectively, to take over Paramount and strengthen its balance sheet. The merged entity, called “New Paramount,” will remain public.

An investor in Skydance since 2020, RedBird is the media company’s largest shareholder other than the Ellisons. In the 10 years since its inception, RedBird has emerged as a leading sports and entertainment dealmaker with $10 billion in assets.

Founder and CEO Gerry Cardinale made his name at Goldman Sachs as a banker to the New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys and the NFL. The merger comes as “incumbent media companies are increasingly challenged by technological disintermediation,” Cardinale said in an earlier press release.

“Paramount has the intellectual property foundation to ensure longevity through this evolution – but it will require a new generation of visionary leadership along with experienced operational management to navigate the next phase,” he added.

RedBird, the owner of AC Milan football club since 2022, has been on a shopping spree. In May, it acquired All3Media, the TV and film production company behind “Fleabag,” for 1.15 billion pounds (about $1.4 billion). He tried to buy the British newspaper, the Telegraph, before pulling out in April. Last month, RedBird joined forces with Weatherford Capital to launch a collegiate sports investment fund.

David Ellison will lead the New Paramount as its CEO. Jeff Shell, former CEO of NBCUniversal and current president of sports and media at RedBird, will report to Ellison as president.

The deal is typical of Cardinale’s book. RedBird is not a typical buyout firm, it installs new management and leverages intellectual property to build bigger businesses. Skydance already successfully co-produced the “Top Gun” reboot with Paramount and holds the rights to produce and finance other Paramount properties, including Transformers.

“I think it’s my biggest competitive advantage that I don’t get emotionally attached,” Cardinale told Business Insider in 2022. “They’re all pieces of intellectual property that have a legitimate right to be monetized as long as they balance the fan . social contract at the same time”.

Business Insider spoke with 27 of Cardinale’s peers and colleagues to learn more about his winning strategy. One of his superpowers, many have said, is his relationship skills. Many of RedBird’s business partnerships date back to Goldman’s time.

“He had a knack for developing relationships with entrepreneurs, especially those with a more maverick style,” said Jon Winkelried, CEO of TPG and former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs. “There are a lot of smart investors who can run the numbers, who can figure out the cash flows, but it’s very hard to get high-powered people who have achieved a lot to want to give you some of their precious time. People want to spend time with Gerry.”

READ THE FULL STORY: How Gerry Cardinale Became the Dealmaker for the Yankees, AC Milan and Ben Affleck