Redstone Rejects Sale Speculation

NEW YORK, October 24: Sumner Redstone, the executive chairman of Viacom and CBS Corporation, has asserted
that there’s “not a chance” he’d sell either organization to resolve the debt
issues at his family holding company, National Amusements.

Redstone made the
statements in an interview with The Wall Street Journal while discussing negotiations with lenders
regarding National Amusement’s debt. Redstone already sold off $233 million in
Viacom and CBS holdings to avoid breaching a $1.6 billion loan deal for
National Amusements. That moved sparked speculation that he may have to sell
off more of the two companies in order to save National Amusements, which was
started by Redstone’s father. It owns controlling stakes in Viacom and CBS,
operates a theater chain and has investments in Midway Games and the
slot-machine operator WMS Industries.

Asked whether he would
consider selling Viacom or CBS, Redstone is quoted as saying: "Not a
chance. I will not sell Viacom and I will not sell CBS. They're two great
companies. We have no intention to sell any more stock and I'm decisive about
that."

—By Mansha Daswani