CBS has raised the stakes in its ongoing power struggle with the Redstone family as it tries to prevent a forced merger with Viacom.
The board of the US broadcaster wants to prevent what it sees as “interference” from National Amusements Inc (NAI), the company controlled by Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari, in a meeting called to discuss the merger.
NAI has voting control of both CBS and Viacom. The two companies were separated by Sumner Redstone in 2005. Shari Redstone now wants to bring together the two businesses, and is making her second attempt since 2016, a move strongly opposed by the CBS board.
Its reported that on Friday a Redstone representative told CBS that Shari Redstone wanted to remove a member of the board. This sparked fears that the Redstone’s were planning to repeat their actions of two years ago that led to wholesale changes on the CBS board.
On Monday CBS asked a Delaware court for a temporary restraining order that would prevent the Redstones from exerting their influence and allow the board to vote through a measure that would mute the Redstone holding.
NAI says it is outraged by the actions and is expected to file its response to the courts on Tuesday.