Possible Accord Reached in Family Battle Over Sumner Redstone Trust
August 26 2016 - 5:53PM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint
A peace treaty appears likely in the feud between Shari Redstone
and her niece Keryn Redstone.
At issue were changes made to media mogul Sumner Redstone's
trust, which will oversee his controlling stakes in Viacom Inc. and
CBS Corp. after he dies or is declared incapacitated. In May,
Viacom Chairman and then-CEO Philippe Dauman and board member
George Abrams were removed as trustees and sued to be
reinstated.
Keryn Redstone, a beneficiary of the trust, claimed it was her
aunt Shari Redstone and not her 93-year-old ailing grandfather
making the changes as part of a power grab. Keryn Redstone joined
in their legal battle, which also argued that Shari Redstone was
behind the moves -- charges she has repeatedly denied.
Last week, Messrs. Dauman and Abrams agreed to drop their suit
as part of a broader settlement with National Amusements Inc.,
which is the vehicle through which Mr. Redstone currently controls
Viacom and CBS. Mr. Dauman agreed to step down as Viacom chief
executive and will resign as non-executive chairman on Sept.
13.
Even after Viacom's board agreed to settle its legal battle with
its controlling shareholder, Keryn Redstone didn't back down. A
tentative settlement reached during a hearing in Massachusetts on
Friday could be the final piece in putting to rest the long-running
family feud and battle for control over the media empire.
The daughter of Mr. Redstone's estranged son, Brent, Keryn
Redstone has long had an acrimonious relationship with her aunt.
She joined the fight against the changes to the trust out of
concern that she would be treated unfairly when it came to both
planned distributions and any allocations in the future.
During the hearing in Massachusetts, Robert Klieger, a lawyer
for Sumner Redstone, said while the trust treats all five
grandchildren equally, his client was open to reaffirming this
through adjustments to the trust document.
Keryn Redstone will "get the assurances she wants that she won't
be treated in an unfair manner," he said. According to Mr. Klieger,
Mr. Redstone has also agreed to meet with his granddaughter, whom
he hasn't seen since February.
Among the Redstone grandchildren, Keryn Redstone was the only
outlier. Shari Redstone's children and Keryn Redstone's sister,
Lauren Redstone Ellis, were all in support of the recent changes to
the trust.
A status hearing on the settlement talks has been scheduled for
Sept. 23.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 26, 2016 17:38 ET (21:38 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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