Reports are circulating that Sony may be in talks of a possible merger with in the next year. This from Forbes-
“Viacom Inc’s Paramount Pictures could merge with Sony Pictures, Universal Studios or another movie studio amid a wave of consolidation in the industry over the next few months, veteran investor Mario Gabelli said in the latest issue of Barron’s.
The chief executive of Gamco Investors Inc, who owns shares of Viacom ( VIA – news – people ), said he expects deal making among movie studios as they seek to cut costs.
‘Today there are seven or eight motion-picture studios. A round of consolidation will occur in the next six to 12 months because of the costs of financing, prints and advertising, the benefits of globalization and such,’ Gabelli said. ‘We hear talk of something going on”.
This is potentially very big news if there is any truth to it. A drawback would be that this means less studios competing against each other and thus might lead to less innovation and effort in film making.
Do you care? Should we care? Its all about the benjamins folks!
