H. Peter Haveles Jr. and James D. Rosener Quoted in The Deal Article, 'Boardroom Uncertainty Returns to CBS'
Pepper partners H. Peter Haveles Jr. and James D. Rosener were quoted in the October 23, 2018 The Deal article, " Boardroom Uncertainty Returns to CBS."
Parsons was someone who would "calm the waters" after the battles between Moonves and Redstone, litigation attorney Peter Haveles of Pepper Hamilton LLP said.
"The most important issue for CBS now is to get control of corporate governance and develop a strong board, so whether it's in a merger or nonmerger environment, you have a board that is acting both independently of management as well as thinking about long-term strategy issues without getting caught up in what for the last three to four years was a personality fight between Les Moonves and Shari Redstone," Haveles said.
Even with the merger forbearance agreement, though, the Redstones' control of Viacom could give board candidates pause, Pepper Hamilton's James Rosener said. "Anybody who is going to take over the company wants to know that they have some independence and lack of a veto by one shareholder," said Rosener, head of the firm's international practice group.
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Moreover, replacing Parsons with his successor at Time Warner might not have the best optics. "He did a nice job shepherding Time Warner through all of the tumult of the merger talks and the changing landscape," Rosener said. "It's almost like, 'If Dick's not available, let's take his successor,'" he added, questioning how the market would view the move.
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"If you look at Comcast, you look at Disney, they've both been making larger strategic moves to build their platform for the future," Haveles said. "CBS hasn't done that."
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"They've got a great on-air network, but you haven't seen them make the strategic moves," Haveles said.
Content contributed by attorneys of Troutman Sanders LLP and Pepper Hamilton LLP prior to July 1, 2020, is included here, together with content contributed by attorneys of Troutman Pepper (the combined entity) after the merger date.