Viacom and CBS Consider Merger…Again

The potential merger would reunite the two media companies following their split in 2005.

NORTH AMERICA–The Board of Directors of Viacom have formed a special committee of independent directors to assess a potential merger with CBS Corporation.

According to Viacom, the committee has retained independent legal counsel is retaining independent financial advisors in connection with the evaluation.

Both Viacom and CBS previously explored the idea of a potential merger in late 2016, following a request from National Amusements, which has a controlling stake in both companies.

In terms of licensing, Nickelodeon, which is a division of Viacom, is the world’s 8th largest licensor with $5.5 billion in licensed retail sales in 2016. Paramount Pictures, which is also a division of Viacom, is No. 114 with $175 million and CBS is No. 88 with $320 million, according to License Global’s annual Top 150 Global Licensors report.

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The company also stated: “There can be no assurance that this process will result in a transaction or on what terms of any transaction may occur. Neither Viacom nor the committee intends to comment further until the process is completed.”