CBS In Talks With Redstone Family' National Amusements To Settle Litigation: WSJ

(RTTNews) - CBS Corp. (CBS)is in talks with Shari Redstone and her family's holding company, National Amusements Inc., to settle their litigation over control of the broadcaster, less than a month before the matter is scheduled to go to trial, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.

A framework for the settlement would include CBS dropping its attempt to strip National Amusements of its voting control of the company by issuing shares as a dividend. In return, National Amusements would refrain from pushing for a merger of CBS and Viacom Inc. for an undisclosed period, the report said.

The report noted that the potential settlement under discussion also could lead to a shake-up of CBS's board and push CBS's annual meeting — originally scheduled for last May and delayed by the fight — to next spring.

The fate of CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves, who is being investigated by two independent law firms for allegations of sexual harassment reported by the New Yorker, isn't part of the settlement talks, the report said. Moonves has expressed regret for behavior that made women uncomfortable, but denied retaliating or harming anyone's career when his advances were rebuffed.