O.T.=Poor Sumner...........Sunday September 19, 4:04 pm Eastern Time
FOCUS-Wife of Viacom chief files for divorce
(Adds details throughout, byline)
By Ilaina Jonas
NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The wife of media titan Sumner Redstone, chairman and
CEO of Viacom (NYSE:VIA - news), whose company is in a $37 billion deal to acquire
CBS Inc. (NYSE:CBS - news), has filed for divorce and is seeking $3 billion, her attorney said on Sunday.
Phyllis Redstone, 74, Sumner's wife of 52 years, filed in a Boston court for divorce from her 76-year-old husband, according
to a Viacom spokesman.
The company issued a statement saying the suit was a personal matter that would have no effect on Viacom's proposed merger
with CBS. Redstone is set to remain chairman and chief executive once Viacom's merger with CBS takes place.
''The Redstone family interests in Viacom's parent company, National Amusements Inc., are structured in such a way that the
personal matters between Mr. and Mrs. Redstone will not affect the ownership, control or management of Viacom, nor will
they affect the merger with CBS,'' the company said in a statement.
Mrs. Redstone previously filed for divorce in November 1993 in the midst of a high-stakes takeover battle Viacom was waging
with home shopping network QVC for control of Paramount Pictures, a Viacom spokesman said, adding that she withdrew the
suit three weeks later.
Viacom later acquired Paramount for about $10 billion.
Newspapers have reported that Mrs. Redstone first filed for divorce in 1984 and also withdrew that suit. A Viacom
spokesman said he could not confirm that action.
Irving Helman, Mrs. Redstone's attorney who practices with Boston-based law firm Nutter, McClennen and Fish, confirmed a
New York Post front-page report Sunday that she was now seeking $3 billion from her husband. He declined further comment
on the case.
A CBS spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
George Abrams, Sumner Redstone's long-time attorney, said in the Viacom statement that his client, who owns 67 percent of
Viacom stock through his holding company National Amusements Inc., would make no further comment about the suit, which
has been sealed by the court.
''In the interest of his family, Mr. Redstone chooses not to reply publicly to any allegations, no matter how false or misleading
they may be,'' Abrams said following publication of the Post story.
''This is a personal matter which Mr. Redstone intends to resolve in a private way. Mr. Redstone and both his children are
united on all matters affecting the family's business interests,'' he said.
The children, but not Phyllis, sit on the board of Viacom with Sumner.
Brent Redstone, 48, is a lawyer in Denver, Colo., and Shari Redstone, 45, is executive vice president of Dedham, Mass.-
based National Amusements, a family-owned company whose majority shareholder is Sumner, according to a Viacom
regulatory filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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