Paramount Skydance has named Rene Augustine, who previously served in the Trump administration, to lead its global public policy efforts, according to a company memo reviewed by Reuters. Augustine will assume the role of senior vice president of global public policy on February 17 and will report directly to Paramount Skydance Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim.
In the memo, Delrahim set out Augustine's responsibilities: "In her role, Rene will be responsible for developing strategic policies that advance our business objectives and building key diplomatic relationships that are important for advancing those objectives globally," he wrote. Delrahim, a former senior U.S. antitrust official, and Augustine previously worked together at the Department of Justice, the Senate and the White House.
Augustine's prior government service includes time as a special assistant to the president and senior associate counsel in the office of White House Counsel. She also served as deputy assistant attorney general in the antitrust division of the Justice Department from 2019 to 2021.
The appointment comes as Paramount and Netflix remain engaged in a contest to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount recently amended its offer by adding financial incentives and other terms intended to strengthen its proposal. The company offered Warner Bros. investors roughly $650 million in additional cash for each quarter the deal fails to close after this year, and agreed to cover a $2.8 billion breakup fee that the HBO owner would owe Netflix if Warner Bros. were to walk away from a Paramount agreement.
Netflix has put forward a rival proposal that would pay Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders $27.75 per share in cash for the film and television studios, the company’s extensive library and its HBO Max streaming service, rather than a combination of cash and stock.
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