CBS Investors’ Viacom-Merger Suit Can Proceed, Judge Says (1)

CBS Corp. shareholders who allege they were treated unfairly in the $11.7 billion merger with Viacom Inc. can press forward with a lawsuit over their losses, a judge concluded.

Delaware Chancery Court Judge Joseph Slights III ruled Wednesday that pension funds had raised legitimate questions about the fairness of the 2019 merger engineered by media mogul Shari Redstone, head of Viacom and a CBS board member. She is the daughter of the late billionaire Sumner Redstone, who owned both companies.

Facts presented by the investors “support a reasonable inference the merger was not entirely fair to CBS,” Slights said ...