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CBS, Viacom set up special committees to explore merger

The boards of CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. formed separate special committees of independent directors to explore a potential merger between the two companies.

"There can be no assurance that this process will result in a transaction or on what terms any transaction may occur," the companies each said Feb. 1 in separately issued statements.

Viacom said its special committee retained independent legal counsel and is hiring independent financial advisers in connection with this evaluation.

Media reports earlier indicated that Viacom CEO Bob Bakish and CBS Chief Les Moonves recently talked about a potential deal. Shari Redstone, who is president of National Amusements Inc., the holding company that controls 80% of the voting stock in Viacom and CBS, is reportedly again pursuing a merger of the two companies that split more than 10 years ago.

National Amusements previously encouraged the two media conglomerates to explore a deal in September 2016, but the company withdrew the proposal in December 2016, saying that after "careful assessment and meetings with the leadership of both companies, we have concluded that this is not the right time to merge the companies."