Paramount, skydance said to enter exclusive merger talks

Paramount and Skydance have entered into exclusive merger discussions, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the situation. WHY IT MATTERS: This brings a

sale of Paramount a step closer and would end months of intrigue around the future of Shari Redstone's media empire. ZOOM IN: Later on Wednesday, the Journal reported that Apollo

Management had offered to buy Paramount for $26 billion. Paramount is focused on the Skydance talks and is pausing talks with other bidders, the paper said. * Apollo had previously offered

$11 billion for just the Paramount film and TV studio, the Journal reported last month. The $26 billion would be for the entire company. * A separate report from Bloomberg on Wednesday

afternoon said that Redstone had "reached a tentative agreement" with Skydance on a deal, though no price was mentioned. * A representative for Skydance did not immediately respond

for comment, while Paramount declined to comment. BETWEEN THE LINES: Skydance Media would fund the potential deal with help from Skydance investors including RedBird Capital and KKR. *

Skydance CEO is David Ellison, the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison. CATCH UP QUICK: National Amusements, the Redstone family business that controls 80% of Paramount's voting power,

began talking with Skydance back in December. * Those talks first centered around Skydance buying a controlling stake in National Amusements, which would have given them power over

Paramount. * Paramount also held brief talks with Warner Bros. Discovery.