Chinese Internet and e-commerce giant Alibaba Holding Group said that it is not interested in buying American film and TV production outfit Paramount Pictures, and would instead opt for merchandising deals.
The company made the statement after reports came out that Alibaba founder and CEO Jack Ma had a meeting with Shari Redstone, Vice-chairwoman of Paramount's parent company Viacom Inc. Redstone is also the daughter of Viacom owner and Chairman Emeritus Summer Redstone.
Alibaba confirmed the meeting between the two executives. However, the company clarified that there are no talks of a possible purchase, The Street reported. Rather, Ma and Redstone reportedly talked about further licensing of Paramount's properties for Chinese distribution and merchandising deals.
Ma's company has already licensed several of Paramount's films in the past. It has also gone into investing on some of the latter's films, starting with the Tom Cruise-starrer "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation" and is set to continue with the upcoming "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows" and "Star Trek: Beyond."
Recently, the two companies arrived at a new merchandising deal through Alibaba's fan-funding subsidiary Yulebao. The new deal will let Alibaba produce merchandise for several of Paramount's properties, including the above films, Varietyreported.
Redstone is reportedly seeking to attract more companies to invest in Paramount amid the controversies surrounding Viacom. Recently, she has come into conflict with chairman Philippe Dauman for the control of the company.
Dauman has also reportedly filed a lawsuit against the younger Redstone, alleging that she is manipulating her father Summer to gain a bigger hold of his enterprise. The chairman also filed another lawsuit asking to be reinstated on the board of National Amusements that oversees the 93-year-old media mogul's estate.