CBS and Viacom Are Said to Near Deal After Agreeing on Price (2)

CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. may be done keeping investors waiting.

The media giants are expected to announce a merger as soon as Tuesday, the culmination of years of on-again, off-again discussions.

They’ve agreed on an exchange ratio of 0.59625 a share of CBS for each of Viacom’s for the all-stock merger, according to people familiar with the situation. At this level, a deal would peg Viacom at around its current market value of close to $12 billion. The agreement struck between the companies is in principle and won’t be final until it’s announced, the people said.

Shari Redstone

The companies ...