Shari Redstone helped build Paramount Global into a media empire, but if Sony Pictures Entertainment and private equity giant Apollo Global Management succeed in acquiring it, they plan to break it all up, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The plan would include auctioning off CBS, cable channels like MTV and the Paramount+ streaming service, said the people, who asked not to be identified sharing private details. Paramount Pictures — home to blockbusters like “The Godfather,” “Top Gun” and the “Mission: Impossible” franchise — would be combined with Sony’s business.

Sony and Apollo, which made a nonbinding expression of interest in acquiring Paramount for $26 billion last week, are also likely to keep Paramount’s library of films and TV shows and the rights to well-known characters, including the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and SpongeBob SquarePants. They have not yet outlined this plan to Paramount or its advisers.

A breakup of Paramount would represent a major changing of the guard in the entertainment industry. CBS and Paramount have been controlled by the Redstone family for decades, since media mogul Sumner Redstone assembled the conglomerate in a series of audacious deals. His daughter, Shari Redstone, championed a 2019 deal to reunite it through a merger with CBS, and remains Paramount’s controlling shareholder.

Sony and Apollo, which submitted a nonbinding expression of interest in acquiring Paramount last week, are now engaging with Paramount’s financial advisers on next steps, the people said. The two companies have not yet signed formal nondisclosure agreements or begun due diligence reviews, a process that could take weeks.

Although it’s still early, the two bidders have already begun to envision how a deal for Paramount could unfold. The two would likely operate the company as a joint venture controlled by Sony, with a minority stake owned by Apollo, the people said. Sony would look to combine the marketing and distribution functions of the Paramount movie studio with its own operations, and divest the rest of the properties.

Over time, Apollo could sell its stake in the joint venture back to Sony or to another buyer.

A breakup of Paramount is not a preferred outcome for Shari Redstone, who would prefer to see the company pass on to another buyer intact, according to a person familiar with her thinking. But it wouldn’t necessarily be a deal breaker if the offer was compelling, the person said.

Sony and Paramount have different approaches to the entertainment business, and a deal would probably result in a U-turn for Paramount. Unlike Paramount, which streams its content on Paramount+, Sony licenses its movies and TV shows to companies like Netflix and Disney. Sony would probably not change that approach in a deal with Paramount and would likely look to combine Paramount+ with a rival, like Comcast’s Peacock or Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max.

Sony has long pursued Paramount’s movie studio. Several years ago, Sony executives reached out to Paramount to see if the company would be willing to sell Paramount Pictures or merge it into a joint venture, but Paramount signaled it was interested only in a deal for the whole company. So when Apollo made a bid for all of Paramount this year, Sony decided to team up.

Any deal by Sony would face regulatory hurdles. Regulations restrict foreign owners from holding licenses for U.S. broadcast stations, which could prevent Sony — owned by Japan’s Sony Group Corp. — from owning CBS-affiliated TV stations. But they could divest the stations immediately, or have Apollo apply for the license.

The deal would also likely require clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the panel in Washington that scrutinizes acquisitions by foreign owners.