Shari Redstone May Leave Viacom After Feud With Father

Media magnate Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari are negotiating a deal that would end her involvement in the family company and thus her roles as chairman of Viacom and CBS. According to the Wall Street Journal, the biggest stumbling block in negotiations is for Ms. Redstone to relinquish her holdings in the family company, National Amusements, whose holdings include Viacom, CBS and a theater chain. A statement quoted by the Journal indicated that Ms. Redstone didn't want to sell her 20% holding in the company, but would do so if her father "wishes to settle matters that way," after reports the two had had a falling out, apparently because she's looking to succeed her 84-year-old father upon his death. She noted that the company had been publicly valued at $8b, and said she would consider a resolution that "fairly reflects" her stake. Mr. Redstone said in a letter posted on the Forbes Web site, that "if Shari desires to be bought out I will consider this as long as the price is acceptable." National Amusements received the $8B valuation from Shari's brother Brent Redstone during a recently settled lawsuit filed against his father in which Sumner ultimately bought out his son's one-sixth interest for about $240M, a much lower price than his valuation implied.

Sources: Forbes: Redstone Letter, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post
Commentary: Gabelli Multimedia's Larry Haverty Picks Five 'Elephant in the Room Stocks' • Why Viacom's Sumner Redstone Is Not A Hypocrite • Viacom Rules, Google Drools? Not So Fast
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Viacom Inc. (VIA), CBS Corp. (CBS)
Earnings call transcript: Viacom Q1 2007

Seeking Alpha's news briefs are combined into a pre-market summary called Wall Street Breakfast. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.