FCC lets Paramount sell 49.5% equity stake to Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar
FCC lets Paramount sell 49.5% equity stake to Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar
美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）批准派拉蒙向沙特、阿联酋和卡塔尔出售 49.5% 的股权
The Federal Communications Commission yesterday approved Paramount Skydance’s plan to sell large equity stakes to the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. Under US law, companies with licenses to run broadcast stations need FCC approval to have direct or indirect foreign ownership exceeding 25 percent of the company’s stock.
美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）昨日批准了派拉蒙（Paramount Skydance）向沙特阿拉伯、阿拉伯联合酋长国和卡塔尔的主权财富基金出售大额股权的计划。根据美国法律，拥有广播电台运营执照的公司若要使直接或间接外资持股比例超过公司股份的 25%，必须获得 FCC 的批准。
Paramount says its indirect foreign ownership will reach 49.5 percent after it receives investments from the sovereign wealth funds and filed a petition asking the FCC to waive the foreign ownership limit. Paramount, the owner of CBS, holds FCC licenses for the 28 local CBS stations that it owns and operates.
派拉蒙表示，在接受这些主权财富基金的投资后，其间接外资持股比例将达到 49.5%，并已提交申请请求 FCC 豁免外资持股比例限制。作为 CBS 的所有者，派拉蒙持有其自营的 28 家地方 CBS 电台的 FCC 执照。
Paramount is buying Warner Bros. Discovery in a $111 billion deal that is being partially financed with foreign investment but hasn’t completed the acquisition because US states filed a lawsuit that aims to block the merger. Trump’s Department of Justice approved the merger.
派拉蒙正以 1110 亿美元的价格收购华纳兄弟探索公司（Warner Bros. Discovery），该交易部分资金由外资提供，但由于美国各州提起诉讼试图阻止此次合并，收购尚未完成。特朗普政府的司法部此前已批准了该合并案。
The FCC is letting Paramount sell indirect ownership stakes to “some of the most repressive governments in the world,” FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the commission, said yesterday. “An investment this large in one of America’s biggest media companies doesn’t just buy equity, it secures influence over what gets said and what gets made.”
FCC 委员安娜·戈麦斯（Anna Gomez，委员会中唯一的民主党人）昨日表示，FCC 允许派拉蒙向“世界上一些最压迫的政府”出售间接所有权股份。“对美国最大的媒体公司之一进行如此大规模的投资，不仅仅是购买股权，它还确保了对媒体言论和内容制作的影响力。”
The Paramount/Warner deal would combine two of the largest movie studios, merge streaming service Paramount+ with HBO Max, and give Paramount ownership of CNN and other TV channels. “The funds plan to invest $24 billion in the Paramount/Warner deal,” the Los Angeles Times wrote. “Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is set to contribute $10 billion, while the Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi’s L’imad Holding Co. will separately add $7 billion.”
派拉蒙与华纳的交易将合并两家最大的电影制片厂，将流媒体服务 Paramount+ 与 HBO Max 合并，并使派拉蒙获得 CNN 及其他电视频道的所有权。《洛杉矶时报》报道称：“这些基金计划向派拉蒙/华纳交易投资 240 亿美元。其中沙特阿拉伯公共投资基金将出资 100 亿美元，而卡塔尔投资局和阿布扎比的 L’imad Holding Co. 将分别出资 70 亿美元。”
Concern about foreign influence
关于外国影响力的担忧
Although the Trump FCC has taken a hard stance against foreign-made equipment, such as routers and drones, it said in an order yesterday that granting Paramount’s request is in the public interest. “Paramount asserts that, as its Petition makes clear, its ‘new foreign investors, which will receive only non-voting equity, will not have any ability to influence the company’s editorial decision-making or news or entertainment content or to access its viewers’ personal data,’” the FCC said.
尽管特朗普时期的 FCC 对路由器和无人机等外国制造的设备采取了强硬立场，但在昨日的一项命令中，该委员会表示批准派拉蒙的请求符合公共利益。FCC 表示：“派拉蒙在申请中明确指出，其‘新的外国投资者仅持有无投票权的股权，将没有任何能力影响公司的编辑决策、新闻或娱乐内容，也无法访问其观众的个人数据’。”
The Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners will continue to own 100 percent of Paramount’s Class A voting shares, while the foreign investors will hold Class B non-voting shares. The FCC approved Paramount’s petition in a declaratory ruling issued by the Media Bureau. FCC commissioners did not vote on the item.
埃里森家族（Ellison family）和红鸟资本（RedBird Capital Partners）将继续持有派拉蒙 100% 的 A 类投票股，而外国投资者将持有 B 类无投票权股。FCC 通过媒体局发布的宣告性裁决批准了派拉蒙的申请。FCC 委员们并未就此事项进行投票。
Gomez said that because foreign owners could hold influence over the company, she “called for this new and novel issue to go to a full commission vote given what’s at stake. Instead, the FCC snuck this ruling out as a staff-level decision, with no public vote and no accountability for a call of this magnitude.”
戈麦斯表示，由于外国所有者可能对公司产生影响，她“鉴于事态严重，呼吁将这一新颖且重大的议题提交给全体委员会投票。然而，FCC 却以员工层面的决定悄悄发布了这项裁决，没有进行公开投票，也没有为如此重大的决策承担责任。”
Senate Democrats said in a May letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that “the foreign governments behind this investment systematically suppress press freedom in their own countries and have made a series of investments and gifts to entities controlled by the president and his family, raising serious concerns about their influence over the independent American media and the potential for corruption.”
参议院民主党人在五月份致 FCC 主席布伦丹·卡尔（Brendan Carr）的一封信中表示：“这些投资背后的外国政府在其国内系统性地压制新闻自由，并向总统及其家族控制的实体进行了一系列投资和赠予，这引发了人们对他们影响美国独立媒体以及潜在腐败问题的严重担忧。”
But yesterday’s approval has been expected since Carr in March said, “I think this is a good deal, and I think it should get through pretty quickly.” The FCC said its order “permit[s] up to 100 percent indirect foreign equity interest of Paramount, in the aggregate.” While Paramount said it expects 49.5 percent of shares to be owned by foreign investors based on its current deals, it told the FCC the number could change “in light of routine fluctuations in publicly held equity interests and to account for potential future investments.”
但昨日的批准早在意料之中，因为卡尔在三月份曾表示：“我认为这是一笔好交易，应该能很快通过。”FCC 表示，其命令“允许派拉蒙的间接外资股权总额最高达到 100%”。虽然派拉蒙表示根据目前的交易，预计外资持股比例为 49.5%，但它也告知 FCC，这一数字可能会“根据公开持股权益的日常波动以及未来潜在的投资”而发生变化。
FCC says opposition “unconvincing”
FCC 称反对意见“缺乏说服力”
The FCC Media Bureau order rejected concerns that the investment will buy “practical influence,” even without voting control. “We find this argument unconvincing. The Proposed Investment is not a loan, which must be repaid, but a purchase of stock that has no voting rights,” the order said. “We are persuaded by Paramount’s argument that the Foreign Investors therefore will not be able to wield any influence, let alone control, over decisions involving the Licensees. Paramount has further demonstrated that David Ellison will retain control over Paramount and that the Ellison family will continue to own a majority of the voting stock.”
FCC 媒体局的命令驳回了关于即使没有投票权，投资也会带来“实际影响力”的担忧。“我们认为这一论点缺乏说服力。拟议的投资不是必须偿还的贷款，而是购买没有投票权的股票，”该命令称。“我们被派拉蒙的论点所说服，即外国投资者因此将无法对涉及被许可人的决策施加任何影响，更不用说控制了。派拉蒙进一步证明，大卫·埃里森（David Ellison）将保留对派拉蒙的控制权，且埃里森家族将继续持有多数投票权股票。”
The FCC cited Paramount’s commitment to “ensure that there will be no interference with the editorial or decision-making policies of its broadcast stations (or CBS News or any other facets of Paramount news and entertainment programming).” The order said the FCC “has long recognized that foreign investment in US companies and networks, including broadcast, fosters technical innovation, supports job creation, and strengthens the US economy.”
FCC 引用了派拉蒙的承诺，即“确保不会干涉其广播电台（或 CBS 新闻或派拉蒙新闻和娱乐节目的任何其他方面）的编辑或决策政策”。该命令称，FCC “长期以来一直认识到，对包括广播在内的美国公司和网络进行外国投资，有助于促进技术创新、支持创造就业机会并加强美国经济。”
Paramount agreed to a few terms to ensure compliance. The FCC said that “Paramount must monitor foreign ownership to ensure continued compliance with the Commission’s rules.” It must also ensure that “Foreign Investors will not have any influence, direction, or control over or provide any commentary or guidance on Paramount’s content decisions, company management, or have any Access to Paramount’s non-public US Person Data.”
派拉蒙同意了一些条款以确保合规。FCC 表示，“派拉蒙必须监控外资持股情况，以确保持续遵守委员会的规则。”它还必须确保“外国投资者不会对派拉蒙的内容决策、公司管理产生任何影响、指导或控制，也不会提供任何评论或指导，且不得访问派拉蒙的非公开美国个人数据。”
Paramount would need to seek additional FCC approval “in the event it proposes to change any voting, governance or information rights of the Foreign Investors,” and before any change that results in “its foreign ownership exceed[ing] the terms and conditions of this Declaratory Ruling,” the FCC said. Media advocacy group Free Press said in an FCC filing that “Paramount will begin its ownership of WBD with nearly $80 billion in debt, w
FCC 表示，如果派拉蒙“提议更改外国投资者的任何投票权、治理权或信息权”，或者在任何导致“其外资持股超过本宣告性裁决条款和条件”的变更之前，派拉蒙都需要寻求 FCC 的额外批准。媒体倡导组织“自由新闻”（Free Press）在提交给 FCC 的文件中表示，“派拉蒙在开始拥有华纳兄弟探索公司（WBD）时，将背负近 800 亿美元的债务……”