While Paramount Global stock is up nearly 30 percent over the past month, Shari Redstone, the company’s controlling owner, is facing not one but two advanced shareholder lawsuits over how she melded CBS and Viacom a few years ago. This past Wednesday, the four dozen or so lawyers involved agreed on a schedule for the home stretch: Pending a Delaware Court of Chancery judge’s blessing, it will all culminate in a six-day trial for CBS shareholders in late June, followed by another six-day trial for Viacom shareholders in early July. There are no signs of any peaceful resolution.
These suits are remarkable for many reasons. While it used to be extremely common for shareholders to sue over M&A, that’s become a much rarer phenomenon thanks to obscure developments that have made it tougher for class action lawyers to collect attorneys’ fees for this type of litigation. But some march on regardless, and those that do are less likely to settle.
