CBS Reportedly Plans To Discuss Viacom At Thursday Meeting

(RTTNews) - CBS Corp. (CBS.A and CBS) will take its first official step toward exploring a combination with Viacom Inc. when its board discusses a potential deal on Thursday, reports said citing people familiar with the matter.

The board is likely to use a regularly scheduled meeting to talk about forming a committee to explore a deal. The board may also discuss formally appointing financial advisers to work on a transaction, a move that both companies are expected to make in the next couple of weeks, the reports said.

CBS and Viacom, which split into separately traded companies in 2006, established similar committees to explore a recombination in September 2016 at the behest of Shari Redstone, the daughter of controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone. The deal was abandoned later that year.

The report noted that Thursday's meeting will be the first time the CBS board has met since the renewal of conversations about a potential merger with Viacom, which the Redstones also control. Shari Redstone has held preliminary conversations about a deal with CBS Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Leslie Moonves, as well as with Viacom boss Bob Bakish.