Word: diller
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...unclear why someone with Redstone's acumen had labored to produce such a tentative bid. Diller thought so little of Redstone's counter that he vowed QVC would simply stand pat, which was tantamount to a claim of victory. Nor was it clear why Huizenga, whose extraordinarily successful Blockbuster has been on a prodigious buying spree of its own for the past year, would cede control of his own company. Huizenga, a clever and willful entrepreneur who had built the company into not only the largest retailer of home videos and Hollywood's largest single customer but also the majority...
...Despite the questions swirling around the merger, the new offer is enough to prolong the contentious five-month battle for control of Paramount and cast renewed uncertainty over its outcome. With his latest parry -- even if it turns out to be as ineffectual as Diller thinks it is -- Redstone has for the moment denied QVC's chairman the prize he so eagerly desires. Diller, Redstone and Paramount CEO Martin Davis have been locked in combat since September, when Viacom agreed to buy the movie studio for $8.2 billion in a friendly deal. Soon after that agreement, Diller launched...
After five months of brawling, it finally seems as though the end is in sight. While he stopped short of declaring outright victory for the home- shopping channel, "Diller will not lose any sleep over this new bid," says analyst Logsdon. If Diller does not alter his own bid (most observers believe he will not) and Viacom fails to sweeten its package by early next week, then it remains for Paramount's shareholders to vote with their shares of stock. Though QVC and its advisers radiated confidence at the end of last week, they were not above taking...
...struggle between Sumner Redstone's Viacom and Barry Diller's QVC to acquire Paramount. The winner in this fight will almost certainly be a loser because the winner will overpay. Overpaying is a major symptom of show-business fever. Whatever the wishful rationalization of the day -- magazines and cable TV need the synergy of movies and records (Time and Warner, 1989); hardware needs software (Sony and Matsushita buying Columbia Pictures and MCA/Universal, 1990-91); the information superhighway needs content (everyone, 1993-94) -- it is almost axiomatic that when people come down with show-business fever, they pay a premium...
Close confidants of both Diller and Redstone say they have urged their respective principals in the past few weeks to back down and let the other tough guy win Paramount, plus the exciting obligation of assuming $4 billion to $8 billion in debt. But Redstone has the fever. Last Friday he threw more billions on the table and, to raise the cash, all but ceded control of his company, giving up half the seats on his board of directors to outsiders. He is plainly determined to win, even if it means losing...