• Bloomberg, Monday, December 12, 2005 10:45 AM

In a move that shocked Hollywood and, it is fair to say, NBC Universal, Viacom's Paramount Pictures unit late last week swept in and made a fast deal for the purchase of DreamWorks SKG. The $1.6 billion purchase marked not only the end of lengthy discussions between DreamWorks and NBC Universal, but the end of moviemaker Steven Spielberg's career-long relationship with Universal Studios, on whose lot his Amblin Entertainment is based. The industry had widely believed that if any studio would pay what DreamWorks' owners wanted, it would be Universal. But Brad Gray, the former superstar agent who joined Paramount this year as its studio chief, secretly stepped into the picture and brokered a fast deal. According to published reports, it will involve outside investors as well as Paramount money. The sale of DreamWorks essentially marks the conclusion of is founders' dream: Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen had hoped to establish an independent entertainment company, with its own Southern California campus. The only unit of DreamWorks that was not obtained by Viacom was its profitable animation division, although Paramount will henceforth be the distributor of DreamWorks' animated features.

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