Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2: Want to get to a key long term investor in Paramount,
Speaker 2: who's been in the name since two thousand and six,
Speaker 2: who believes in the streaming opportunity and the value of
Speaker 2: its content. It's John Rogers, a real investments founder co CEO.
Speaker 2: You've been throughout this business in its many iterations, and
Speaker 2: I just want to focus first John, on yesterday growth
Speaker 2: being born out being shown by the business, particularly in
Speaker 2: its streaming, thanks in many ways to the Super Bowl,
Speaker 2: but it was overshadowed by the departure of Bob Backish.
Speaker 2: What did you make of the move?
Speaker 1: It was pretty shocking to us.
Speaker 3: I've been Ariel's been in business for forty one years.
Speaker 1: We've not seen anything remotely like this.
Speaker 3: It's just extraordinary, and it can't be good for shareholders
Speaker 3: to be able to have all this uncertainty and earning season.
Speaker 3: You're in the middle of a merger and acquisition transaction,
Speaker 3: negotiating with Charter Communications. All these important things are happening
Speaker 3: all at once, and you need.
Speaker 1: The CEO in place.
Speaker 3: So this has just been very very disappointing, disheartening, and
Speaker 3: also in the context of what you said business has.
Speaker 1: Been getting better.
Speaker 3: A lot of the initiatives that Bob and Bob and
Speaker 3: his executive team have worked on are really starting to
Speaker 3: show fruition. So the timing just seems extremely, extremely problematic.
Speaker 2: Let's just talk about probably why Bob Backish has exited,
Speaker 2: and is because he felt that the negotiations reportedly underway
Speaker 2: with Skuydance were not within his agreement. Now, Sherry Redstone
Speaker 2: is a controlling shareholder at the moment with Plus National Amusements.
Speaker 2: It seems to be the deal that she's looking for
Speaker 2: with Skuydance. How are you currently dealing with the reports
Speaker 2: of a so called sweetened deal? What would you make
Speaker 2: of a combination of paramount with s guidance?
Speaker 1: Well, we don't know enough.
Speaker 3: We've read all the same you know pieces that have
Speaker 3: been written about this, and institutions like PUCK have had
Speaker 3: really good information that we've had confirmed. And so if
Speaker 3: this transaction is really is focused on Skydance, we think
Speaker 3: that that may possibly.
Speaker 1: Have a chance to work.
Speaker 3: But we really would much rather see the Apollo deal
Speaker 3: with Sony that's been so rumored to be out there
Speaker 3: to get certainty of a you know, Apollo's a world
Speaker 3: class firm with extraordinary resources. Sony has proven to be
Speaker 3: so successful, you know, in this industry that seems like
Speaker 3: a marriage made in heaven, and so we wouldn't rush
Speaker 3: to the altar with a smaller company that's not as
Speaker 3: proven as the Apollo and Sony.
Speaker 4: John, Good morning, it's ed in San Francisco. Do you
Speaker 4: get any sense because you've held this idea that we
Speaker 4: should look at other offers on the table for a while.
Speaker 4: Do you still hold that belief but actually the hope
Speaker 4: that other offers will be looked at, Well.
Speaker 1: That's we hear. We have.
Speaker 3: You know, we had a lot of confidence in management
Speaker 3: that's been nothing but straightforward and can do with us.
Speaker 3: That they cared about all shareholders and as you know,
Speaker 3: the employee bases all own the secondary shares. So we
Speaker 3: really have been very, very hopeful that they were going
Speaker 3: to do the right thing for shareholders and that's been
Speaker 3: something that's been committed to us consistently, and we believe them,
Speaker 3: and we just continue to think that you don't need
Speaker 3: to rush when things are getting going well. This is
Speaker 3: not a melting ice cube. This is a company in recovery,
Speaker 3: in a turnaround mode. We want to make sure that
Speaker 3: all shareholders get to be able to take advantage of that.
Speaker 3: And the price that Skydance is suggesting seems to us
Speaker 3: what we've read, much lower than what we would get
Speaker 3: from the Apollo Sony deal and many others that could
Speaker 3: possibly be out there if this company was truly shopped around.
Speaker 3: And the final thing I would say is the directors.
Speaker 3: We know several as independent directors, and we know that
Speaker 3: they're committed to doing what's fair for all shareholders, So
Speaker 3: I'm hoping they'll be able to get to the finish line.
Speaker 4: What does a change of ownership structure or this m
Speaker 4: and a path fix to Paramount?
Speaker 3: Well, I think that with Apollo and Sony you would
Speaker 3: end up with enormous resources that would help them with
Speaker 3: their balance sheet that has you know, gotten higher.
Speaker 1: Than we would have hoped. You'll be able if you're
Speaker 1: working with Sony.
Speaker 3: Sony has been an expert of being an arms dealer,
Speaker 3: being able to use content and ways to generate cash
Speaker 3: flow and profits, and have the extraordinary library that Paramount brings.
Speaker 1: The history of Paramount's.
Speaker 3: You know lot where they have been able to make
Speaker 3: movies for generations, and there will be enormous synergies. You know,
Speaker 3: I think the synergies between Sony and Paramount Paramount are
Speaker 3: much much greater than you can imagine with a smaller
Speaker 3: company like sky Dance.
Speaker 1: So we're really hopeful that you'd.
Speaker 3: Be able to get great synergies, higher cash flow, and
Speaker 3: experienced management team that will be able to make those
Speaker 3: tough calls of what happens with Pike Paramount plus, do
Speaker 3: you use content there? How do you use it in
Speaker 3: selling into other competing services like Netflix.
Speaker 1: We want that kind of.
Speaker 3: Experience leadership that has been proven, and I know there
Speaker 3: are some other large streamers out there they could possibly
Speaker 3: also get into the mix.
Speaker 2: We are, of course with John Rogers of Aerial Investments
Speaker 2: found of Coco to our radio and TV audience. John.
Speaker 2: Regulatory issues though with both potential tie ups. Is that
Speaker 2: a concern for you?
Speaker 3: I think it's a modest concern for the real large
Speaker 3: guys that are out there. I understand that people would
Speaker 3: be worried if Netflix, for example, was to buy Paramount Global,
Speaker 3: But ultimately I think if people are really looking this
Speaker 3: for the long run, you know, there's been lots of
Speaker 3: litigation around some of the regulatory constraints that are out
Speaker 3: there in today's economic system. I think ultimately rational people
Speaker 3: will see do you want to see Paramount Plus collapse?
Speaker 3: Do you want to see all those jobs lost? Do
Speaker 3: you want to see a world class American company in disarray?
Speaker 3: Where do you want to see it find a great
Speaker 3: parent where they can merge and have a successful, growing
Speaker 3: business over the over the next.
Speaker 1: Decade or so.
Speaker 3: So I think I'm hopeful that regulators will be able
Speaker 3: to make the right decision, have an open mind about
Speaker 3: all the various different possible combinations that are out there,
Speaker 3: And I certainly think to Apollo a Sony deal should
Speaker 3: not have any significant regulatory concerns.
Speaker 2: John, You've written to your own investors in your Q
Speaker 2: one report really saying, look, you're not an activist investor,
Speaker 2: but you feel it's your fiduciary duty to raise concerns,
Speaker 2: particularly from a corporate governance perspective here. And I want
Speaker 2: to go back to the fact that you have held
Speaker 2: this stock throughout these iterations, and you've seen the fact
Speaker 2: that there was this controlling shareholder. Did you sort of
Speaker 2: worry this might ever evolve from this corporate governance structure?
Speaker 2: That particularly you're worry was the fact that three independent
Speaker 2: board members have recently stepped down amid this m and
Speaker 2: A speculation.
Speaker 3: You know, over the years that mentioned, you know, the
Speaker 3: forty one years, we've not seen anything like this. I've
Speaker 3: never in all the years of owning stocks that have
Speaker 3: dual class shares, I've never seen a scenario where the
Speaker 3: A shareholders were going to get a significantly larger premium
Speaker 3: than the B shareholders. And that's just something we've never
Speaker 3: seen before. And there's been a lot of smart investors,
Speaker 3: it'seno factual over the years. You know, Warren Buffett's been
Speaker 3: a shareholder. We know Mario Gabelli, my friend Mario has.
Speaker 1: Been a shareholder. We had other several.
Speaker 3: Good, smart people looking at this, and we've always felt
Speaker 3: that people would do the rational thing and do the
Speaker 3: right thing for all shareholders. That's what management's told us. Frankly,
Speaker 3: that's what sharey has said over time. And so we
Speaker 3: think that this is something that came as a real
Speaker 3: true surprise, and it's something again like we've never seen before.
Speaker 4: John, I watched The Masters on Paramount Plus. I get
Speaker 4: my Champions League Football two Paramount Plus.
Speaker 1: I liked Halo.
Speaker 4: What is it that you like about paramounts existing portfolio
Speaker 4: and offering.
Speaker 1: Well, you started at the right place.
Speaker 3: They have extraordinary content.
Speaker 1: That you must see.
Speaker 3: The super Bowl, you know, had great, great ratings, Grammys
Speaker 3: were great.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the Masters.
Speaker 3: They've got great scripted shows, the CSI franchise, the news franchise,
Speaker 3: CBS Sunday Morning sixty Minutes, CBS Evening News.
Speaker 1: And this is robust history. But then you put on
Speaker 1: top of it this.
Speaker 3: Extraordinary library with the paramount greats, Mission Impossible, and The Godfather.
Speaker 1: You could go on and on and on.
Speaker 3: They've got Pluto, which is an extremely successful streaming service.
Speaker 3: You've got worldwide assets the Bob Backish used to run
Speaker 3: that are extremely valuable and seem to get ignored by
Speaker 3: the analyst community and the value that's there. So they
Speaker 3: have a well diversified group of assets, many hidden assets,
Speaker 3: real estate that it hasn't completely been utilized, institutions like
Speaker 3: Showtime and BT that I wish they had found a
Speaker 3: way to have sold earlier. But these are real, true
Speaker 3: assets to this company. And I think sometimes people get
Speaker 3: into the group think of the moment, they're worried about
Speaker 3: the cord cutting, and they're forgetting to value all of
Speaker 3: the assets that Paramount Global has.
Speaker 2: You're a value investor, you look at the value. John,
Speaker 2: you also say you don't sell into chaos. What do
Speaker 2: you do though, if a deal with Skuydance goes ahead.
Speaker 1: Well, we have been looking at all of our options.
Speaker 3: We did write a letter to the board of directors
Speaker 3: explaining our position. We've been, of course talking to expert
Speaker 3: legal counsel, and our general counsel is terrific and she's
Speaker 3: been on top of those issues. So we're looking at
Speaker 3: all of our alternatives and we'll see how this all
Speaker 3: plays out.
Speaker 1: But we would like to.
Speaker 3: See this play out in a way that's very constructive
Speaker 3: because it would be not a good thing for a
Speaker 3: sky Dancer trying to buy a company where you're in
Speaker 3: litigation with all of your shareholders or many of your shareholders,
Speaker 3: I should say many of your shareholders, and at the
Speaker 3: same time, your senior management is not going to be
Speaker 3: happy if the deal isn't fair for the b shareholders
Speaker 3: the management team owns.
Speaker 1: And we all know M and.
Speaker 3: A is difficult in the best of circumstances, getting all
Speaker 3: the synergies done and all the tough calls that have
Speaker 3: to be made, and it would be a difficult environment
Speaker 3: I think for them to be able to be successful,
Speaker 3: while you could have such a cleaner deal with an
Speaker 3: extraordinary company like Apollo and Sony.
Speaker 4: John Rogers Aerial Investments Founder and co C grateful for
Speaker 4: your time.
Speaker 1: Thank you,