Defeated in Bid, Viacom Execs Willing to Stay

Senior executives of Viacom International may stay with the entertainment and communications company even though the investor group they led was defeated in a bitter takeover battle last week by theater chain owner Sumner M. Redstone.

The managers, including eight senior executives who were principals of the investor group, will probably stay if they can come to terms with Redstone on compensation, sources close to them said. “No matter how much bitterness there was, and it was a tough fight, that’s gone now,” one source said.

Redstone said he had a “strong expectation” that not only the top echelon but also members of the company’s large middle management would remain. “They’ve got an emotional as well as a financial commitment to this company,” he said.

Swift Sale

Redstone and Terrence A. Elkes, Viacom chief executive, met last Friday and have agreed to work together to complete the sale as swiftly as possible, they said Monday in a joint press release.

Viacom agreed to be purchased by Redstone’s National Amusements Inc. for $3.4 billion after the Viacom board rejected a $3.23-billion bid from the management-led group. Redstone’s initial offer for the company was made in early February, three months after the Viacom board had accepted a $2.97-billion offer from the management-led group, which also included three investment banks and an insurance company. A series of counteroffers produced the final deal.

Many observers had predicted the departure of at least some of the company’s top executives, who in recent years won the admiration of their industry by diversifying Viacom into several profitable areas. The company owns five television and eight radio stations; cable television properties, such cable networks as MTV and Showtime-The Movie Channel, and the rerun rights to a vast library of television programs, including “The Cosby Show” and “All in the Family.”