CBS’s Moonves tries to kill rumors of a merger with Viacom

CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves on Thursday poured more cold water on the recent whispers that his company was heading toward a reunification with struggling corporate sibling Viacom.

Moonves, speaking to a roomful of analysts and investors at a New York media conference, downplayed any rumored talks and reiterated his long-held position that CBS is fine as it is.

“Truth is, we’re a stand-alone public company, and we’re happy with the hand we are playing,” he said at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch media, entertainment and communications conference.

“On our own, we are never going to do anything bad for shareholders or employees,” he continued. “We are not in active discussions for anything like that.”

His remarks came as Viacom’s revamped board met for a second day to ponder the company’s future after controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone and his daughter, Shari Redstone, ousted longtime CEO Philippe Dauman.

Some on Wall Street — those holding shares in both assets — would like to see Viacom and CBS reunite.

They split in 2006.

Despite Moonves’ sentiments, getting the two back together again is still an option on the table.

Separately, Moonves confirmed that CBS will have a cash pile to spend, most likely on stock buybacks and acquisitions, after it spins off its CBS Radio division — valued at $3 billion.

Moonves said CBS has been approached by private equity and other international players about possible combinations with the soon-independent radio division.

When asked about possible acquisitions, Moonves said the firm was unlikely to get bigger in the film studio business but would eye production companies.

The CBS boss also revealed that the media giant’s two streaming video services — CBS All Access and Showtime — have a total of 2 million subscribers.

That total will rise to 4 million subscribers apiece by 2020, Moonves predicted.