Comcast and ViacomCBS held at least one high-level talk in June about the possibility of joining Comcasts Peacock service, which is part of its NBCUniversal unit, and Viacom CBS' Paramount+. Littler Investigation Toolkit for Employers, Littler Inclusion, Equity and Diversity Playbook, https://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&leg_video=&bn=A10674&term=2019&Summary=Y&Actions=Y&Memo=Y&Text=Y. The company sought to capitalize on its elevated share price to sell $3 billion worth of stock into the market; the underwriters hawking the stock included Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan as lead bookrunners, along with Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Mizuho and others serving in a more passive capacity. Working together, these leaders will help us realize the full potential of our considerable assets and competitive strengths.. The move created significant pressure on the B shares of ViacomCBS, which plummeted 27% on Friday and another 7% the following Monday. These risks, as well as other risks associated with the pending merger, are more fully discussed in the joint consent solicitation statement / prospectus included in the Registration Statement. Disney, which acquired the entertainment assets of Rupert Murdochs 21st Century Fox in early 2019, reported revenue of $65.4 billion last fiscal year, while a combined Warner-Discovery would have $41 billion. (212) 975-1077 "Our powerful content, marketing and distribution engines drove explosive growth as further proof of our ability to establish a sustainable, large scale streaming business with a differentiated global playbook.". A Division of NBCUniversal. The WARN Act applies to private businesses with 50 or more full-time employees in New York State. "We're continuing to leverage our global footprint and long-standing relationships to expand Paramount+ into new markets with enormous potential quickly and economically," said Tom Ryan, President and CEO, Streaming. The family office was extremely leveraged to a long position in ViacomCBS and therefore, was open to pressure from even slight declines in the stock price. The money from those deals all come back to the Dutch entities, where most of it is not subject to corporate tax. The company is also raising its 2024 DTC revenue goal from $6 billion to $9 billion. By March 22, ViacomCBS shares had surged more than 165% in 2021, closing above $100 per . President Biden signed an executive order on July 9, vowing to aggressively enforce antitrust laws to combat the excessive concentration of industry. His nomination of Jonathan Kanter, a prominent Google and Facebook critic, as antitrust chief in the Justice Department and appointment of Lina Kahn, another critic of big tech, to lead the Federal Trade Commission, signal the administrations willingness to take on industry consolidation. Shares of ViacomCBS rose nearly 5% at 2:15 p.m. Information contained in this publication is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion, nor is it a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney. All plans are being discussed as Mr. Hwang and the team determine the best path forward.. 419 Lafayette St Fl 7, New York, NY 10003. Until that issue is clarified by revised New York regulations, employers should, at a minimum, provide the content required under federal WARN for notices to local governmental entities, because the New York statute states generally that New York WARN notices must include the information required in a federal WARN notice. "We're excited about our ability to not just compete, but thrive, creating significant value for both consumers and shareholders. The New York State WARN Act requires private sector employers with 50 or more full time employees to issue a WARN Act notice 90 days before closings, mass layoffs, and other relocations and covered reductions in work hours. Licensing, or royalty revenue, has always been a significant part of the business, accounting for about 24 percent of yearly sales since 2018. Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit, Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower, Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower. Since 2002, ViacomCBS and its predecessor companies, Viacom and CBS, together avoided paying $3.96 billion in U.S. corporate income tax through a system that involved subsidiaries in Barbados, the Bahamas, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Britain, according to the report. Got a confidential news tip? Current WARN Regulations (updates have been proposed, see above), Mass layoffs involving 25 or more full-time employees(if the 25 or more employeesmake up at least 33% of all the employeesat the site), Mass layoffs involving 250 or more full-time employees, Certain other relocations and covered reductions in work hours, The New York State Department of Labor (DOL), The chief elected official of the unit or units of local government where the site of employment is located, The school district or districts where the site of employment is located, Each locality that providespolice, firefighting, emergency medical or ambulance services, or other emergency services, to the locale where the site of employment is located, Resources designed to get employees back to work quickly. ViacomCBS is beginning its first round of layoffs since merging less than a week ago. Law 860-b; N.Y. Comp. Effective November 11, 2020, New York amended its Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act ("NY WARN Act") by expanding the government entities that must receive notice of a NY WARN Act triggering event, such as a facility closing or mass layoff. We want to hear from you. By Shawn Matthew Clark, Bruce Millman, Dan Thieme and Kerry Notestine on, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Littler Restructuring Assessment Solution, Global Workplace Transformation Initiative. ViacomCBS, which is led by Shari Redstone, has sought to take advantage of ever-changing tax laws in other countries in a cat and mouse game, the study said. Anyone can read what you share. A new report details ViacomCBSs use of a labyrinthine tax shelter to sell rights to its shows and films overseas. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. ViacomCBS is rebranding to become Paramount Global, effective February 16, the latest giant pivot in a rapidly transforming media and entertainment landscape. But in 2012, he faced an insider-trading investigation; securities regulators said Tiger Asia had used confidential information to bet against the shares of Chinese stocks, and had manipulated other shares. The leading global brands in entertainment, We tell rich stories that are highly relevant to our audiences. From 2015 to 2019, Viacoms British unit collected $4.5 billion in revenue and gross profits of $1.25 billion, but the U.K. corporate income tax on their profits during this period was only about $18 million, according to the report. Last Monday, shares of RLX Technology, an e-cigarette company, tumbled sharply after Chinese regulators presented potential new regulations on the industry. Copyright 2022 Paramount All Rights Reserved. The large blocks of shares suddenly coming into the market depressed prices further. You still have the dollar.. The amendment does not specify the content of these new notices. He reorganized the firm as a family office, meaning it was no longer managing outside money, and renamed it Archegos Capital Management; archegos is a Greek word meaning leader or founding father, and is used in the Bible to refer to Jesus. They will identify strategic opportunities to grow and transform our businesses and ensure that we are fostering a dynamic, inclusive culture where our employees are empowered to succeed., Bakish continued, With todays appointments, we now have in place the entire senior management team for ViacomCBS, ensuring we will hit the ground running when the transaction closes in just a few weeks. "Effective February 16, we'll be bringing together our leading portfolio of premium entertainment properties under a . And, the following top-performing reality series have been renewed for Paramount+: Queen of the Universe, RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars and The Challenge: All Stars. Since 2002, ViacomCBS and its predecessor companies, Viacom and CBS, together avoided paying $3.96 billion in U.S. corporate income tax through a system that involved subsidiaries in Barbados,. Neither CBS nor Viacom assumes any obligation to publicly provide revisions or updates to any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws. That is raising questions about whether the firms should have had a compliance function to intervene in their potentially conflicting roles in the same stock. The Registration Statement was declared effective by the SEC on October 25, 2019. To set up the swaps, Mr. Hwangs bank lenders bought shares of ViacomCBS and Discovery, according to two people familiar with the matter, and gave his firm the financial exposure to the investments, ensuring that he would make money if the stocks rose and lose it if they fell. Mr. Hwang entered a guilty plea to wire fraud on behalf of Tiger Asia and paid millions of dollars in fines while also accepting a five-year ban on managing public money as a result of the settlement with the S.E.C. We believed the claims to be without merit, and the matter has been resolved, the company said.). ViacomCBS said in its statement that it had overseas locations for core, strategic business purposes, and not for any perceived tax benefits. The statement added that, in the Netherlands, the company has 300 employees and a production studio and generates $1 billion in annual revenue outside of licensing.. Most of the entities did not even have a single employee, Maarten Hietland, one of the studys authors, said in an interview. The company announced today that Paramount+ will make its debut in France as an exclusive bundle with CANAL+ Group, giving subscribers immediate access to Paramount+ through the country's largest provider. Bakish declines to say how much the building could fetch in a sale . The Amendment significantly expands the governmental entities that an employer must notify concerning a NY-WARN . The banks specifically, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs which were able to quickly exit those positions that they subsumed from liquidating Archegos came out of the event relatively unscathed. The Eye name will endure on the broadcast network and. Paramount+ subscribers will soon be able to enjoy SHOWTIME in a new integrated offering that pairs together both services in an unrivaled streaming collection of live and on-demand entertainment with critically acclaimed and boundary-pushing programming in a single user experience. It covers: Closings affecting 25 or more employees Mass layoffs involving 25 or more full-time employees (if the 25 or more employees make up at least 33% of all the employees at the site) Mass layoffs involving 250 or more full-time employees Their action paved the way for Goldman Sachs and others to do the same. Disney, which acquired the entertainment assets of Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox in early 2019, reported revenue of $65.4 billion last fiscal. According to four people familiar with the matter, Mr. Hwang had recently built large holdings in a small number of stocks, including ViacomCBS and Discovery, which also operates the cable channels TLC and the Food Network, and the Chinese companies RLX Technology and GSX Techedu. You have a number of other large streaming services. Under the New York State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act ("NYS WARN"), private employers with 50 or more full-time employees in New York State must provide at least 90 calendar days advance written notice for the following events. (212) 975-3161 Other banks that lent to Archegos, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, were still figuring out their total exposure, although both banks were expected to see minimal losses. The new name nods to the company' Jeffery Kadet, an expert on international taxation and an instructor at the University of Washington School of Law, said the moves are akin to self-dealing. Banks Face Billions in Losses as a Bet on ViacomCBS and Other Stocks Goes Awry, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/29/business/archegos-hwang-viacomcbs-discovery.html. For more information, go to http://www.cbscorporation.com. Plum TV. Paramount+ has exceeded the company's goals since its launch, and ahead of schedule, as the key driver of ViacomCBS' overall streaming growth. Our team of highly accomplished corporate leaders will draw on their deep experience and expertise to help drive ViacomCBS success, said Bob Bakish, President and Chief Executive Officer, Viacom, who will serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of ViacomCBS upon close. This communication is for informational purposes only and is not intended to and does not constitute an offer to subscribe for, buy or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to subscribe for, buy or sell, or an invitation to subscribe for, buy or sell any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, invitation, sale or solicitation would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Signage on the ViacomCBS headquarters during a winter storm in New York, U.S., on Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. . ("US WARN Act"), the NY WARN Act is more expansive than the US WARN Act in three significant ways: (1) it protects more employees; (2) it is more easily triggered; and (3) it requires more advance notice of plant closings and mass layoffs. ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAC; VIACA) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates premium content and experiences for audiences worldwide. Posted in New York Employment Legislation, WARN Act. Signage on the ViacomCBS headquarters during a winter storm in New York, U.S., on Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. 3SeeN.Y.S. That represented a 44% discount to the secondary sale just two days prior. Employers should also consider including the additional content required by existing New York regulations for WARN notices given to the local Workforce Investment Board. Turmoil surrounding a little-known firm run by a onetime star trader rippled through Wall Street on Monday, exposing banks to billions of dollars in losses and highlighting yet . ViacomCBS will continue the global expansion of Paramount+ in 2022. Kelli.Raftery@cbs.com, Viacom and CBS Announce ViacomCBS Corporate Leadership, Internet Explorer presents a security risk. ViacomCBS added that its overall global effective tax rate was 32.6 percent for Viacom between 2006 and 2019 and 33.8 percent for CBS in that time span. The company delivered more than 56 million total global streaming subscribers and 84% revenue growth in the direct-to-consumer segment in 2021. Building 12 It also requires that more employees be affected before WARN is triggered. As a country, he said, wed be better off overall with the same rate everywhere., SpongeBob and Transformers Cost U.S. Taxpayers $4 Billion, Study Says, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/business/media/viacom-cbs-tax-scheme.html. Dismissed by critics and devoured by fans, Transformers: Age of Extinction was the top box office film in 2014, bringing in $1.1 billion, with more than three-quarters of those dollars coming from overseas. The firm's Viacom share sale a similar size to Goldman's was sold two days later, on Sunday evening. But it misjudged the appetite: Investors were only willing to buy shares at less than market value for the company, which led to a sell-off. RLX securities listed in the United States, called American depositary receipts, tumbled 48 percent. Following a 23% decline by ViacomCBS amid the secondary offering, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and a slew of other banks across Wall Street, triggered a margin call on Archegos. ViacomCBS fulfills its tax obligations in all 180-plus countries and the territories we operate, and all of our revenues including those identified in this report are fully taxed in relevant jurisdictions around the world, including the United States, as required by applicable law.. Important Information About the Pending Merger Between CBS and Viacom and Where To Find It. In addition, the average age of new subscribers in August was measurably younger than the service's overall average subscriber age, due in large part to the addition of UEFA and the newly added content from various ViacomCBS brands. On Wednesday, ViacomCBS sold a batch of shares on the open market to raise money to finance its new streaming businesses, exacerbating Mr. Hwangs situation. Soon, huge blocks of stocks were on offer. New York WARN: A Flawed Statute That Can and Should Be Fixed . Dana McClintock, Executive Vice President, Chief Communications Officer March 29, 2021. They fell last week instead. "We are taking our broad content offering and deepening it with more content in key categories, building on our treasure trove of IP to create lasting, hit franchises.". Today's event demonstrated the global power of fan-favorite IP with an expansive slate of exciting programming announcements. Unlike businesses that produce physical goods, media companies can take advantage of the intangible nature of their products. Dlmcclintock@cbs.com Check back here for more updates as they become available and visit CBS.com to sign up for CBS All Access. The answer is that you havent, he said. Comcast and ViacomCBS declined to comment. The New York State WARNAct requires businesses to give early warning of closing and layoffs. The best of the big screen keeps coming to Paramount+. Mr. Bidens proposed tax overhaul could prevent ViacomCBS and other large corporations from exploiting these mismatches. New York State Department of Labor NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - ViacomCBS Inc missed Wall Street profit forecasts on Tuesday as the company announced it will change its name to Paramount and unveiled a broad range of new. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. Sign up to get ViacomCBSs latest insights, stories and solutions delivered straight to your inbox. Those cuts did not affect staff of the TV show and were not related to the merger, but reportedly included ET Live hosts Tanner Thomason and Jason Carter. The popular franchise Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was at the center of a Viacom executives objection to the companys tax strategy. All Rights Reserved. The study noted that Viacom had transferred its intellectual property rights to a subsidiary in Britain in 2015 while keeping the Dutch entities (operating as a subbranch of the British unit) as the jumping-off point for selling foreign rights. On November 11, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law Assembly Bill A10674a. 1 For the most part, this report does not address the concept behind the New York Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. This role will play a key role in our content strategy, ensuring that we build and execute on our compliance strategy, with the goal of attaining all regulatory requirements. Under prior law, NY WARN notice was due to the State Department of Labor, each affected employee, each union representing affected employees, and the local Workforce Investment Board.1In addition, federal WARN, when triggered, adds the requirement of notice to the chief elected official of the unit of local government where the qualifying WARN event takes place and to which the employer paid the highest taxes in the preceding year.2As amended, New York WARN now requires that, in addition to these recipients, WARN notice be sent to: (1)the chief elected official of the unit or units of local government and the school district or districts in which the WARN event will occur; and (2)each locality that provides police, firefighting, emergency medical or ambulance services or other emergency services to the site of employment where the WARN event is occurring.