Wade Davis Named Senior Vice President of Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions for Viacom

Wade Davis Named Senior Vice President of Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions for Viacom

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wade Davis has been appointed Senior Vice President of Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions for Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA; VIA.B), it was announced today by Philippe Dauman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom. In the newly created role, Mr. Davis will be responsible for strategic planning, business development, identifying and assessing potential mergers and acquisitions, managing Viacom's interactions with the banking and investment communities on strategic transactions, and leading the execution of resulting transactions. He will report to Thomas E. Dooley, Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Viacom.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070105/NYF022 )

Mr. Davis, who was formerly Senior Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions for Viacom, assumes the additional duties of strategic planning and business development, activities that were directed previously at Viacom by Bob Bakish. Mr. Bakish was recently appointed President of Viacom's MTV Networks International unit.

Since joining Viacom in December 2005 as Senior Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions, Mr. Davis has overseen the Company's acquisition of DreamWorks SKG, as well as the purchase of numerous digital businesses, including Atom Entertainment, Harmonix, Y2M and Xfire.

"Viacom has made a number of very important acquisitions over the last year, and Wade has been instrumental in identifying and bringing those businesses in-house. His newly expanded responsibilities are not only recognition of these important contributions, but also a testament to his leadership abilities and his significant untapped potential as a strategic advisor," Mr. Dauman said. "Tom and I will continue to rely on Wade's M&A experience, as well as his strong strategic view of emerging markets, as we assess how to best take advantage of the many growth areas available to Viacom in the burgeoning digital arena."

Prior to joining Viacom, Mr. Davis was an investment banker in the technology and media sectors for more than a decade. Mr. Davis was formerly a Managing Director, Co-Head of Investment Banking and Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at ThinkEquity Partners. Before joining ThinkEquity in March 2002, Mr. Davis was a Managing Principal of Lazard Venture Advisors, LP, and a Vice President of Lazard Freres & Co. in their Technology, Media and Telecommunications M&A Group. Prior to joining Lazard in March 1999, he was one of the founding members of Wasserstein Perella & Co.'s Technology M&A Group in San Francisco. As an investment banker, Mr. Davis has advised clients including Yahoo!, Reuters, Microsoft, Telefonica, Young & Rubicam Inc., IBM, Electronic Data Systems, Capgemini, Samsung and Alcatel on transactions with an aggregate value of more than $40 billion.

Mr. Davis has been active in the reform of public education and is currently Chairman of the Board of AdvancePath Academics, a firm that operates technology-based centers that recover and educate high school dropouts.

Mr. Davis holds degrees with distinction and honors in both philosophy and economics from Williams College.

About Viacom

Viacom is a leading global entertainment content company, with prominent and respected brands in focused demographics. Engaging its audiences through television, motion pictures and digital platforms, Viacom reaches its audiences wherever they consume content. Viacom's leading brands include the multiplatform properties of MTV Networks, including MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, CMT: Country Music Television, Spike TV, TV Land, Logo and more than 130 networks around the world, as well as digital assets such as Neopets, Xfire and Atom Entertainment; BET Networks; Paramount Pictures; Paramount Home Entertainment; DreamWorks; and Famous Music. More information about Viacom and its businesses is available at http://www.viacom.com/.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: james.bombassei@viacom.com

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070105/NYF022
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
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Source: Viacom

CONTACT: Carl Folta of Viacom Inc., +1-212-258-6352, or
carl.folta@viacom.com

Web site: http://www.viacom.com/

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