Reuters - Paramount Skydance on Monday launched a hostile bid worth $108.4 billion for Warner Bros Discovery in a last-ditch effort to outbid Netflix and create a media powerhouse that would challenge the dominance of the streaming giant.
Netflix had emerged victorious on Friday from a weeks-long bidding war with Paramount and Comcast, securing a $72 billion equity deal for Warner Bros Discovery's TV, film studios and streaming assets. But Paramount's latest attempt means the
jockeying for Warner Bros and its prized HBO and DC Comics assets will not come to a conclusion swiftly.
The Warner Bros Discovery board of directors on Monday afternoon said it would review Paramount's offer, but was not modifying its recommendation with respect to Netflix. It advised the company to "take no action at this time" in regard to the Paramount Skydance proposal.
Paramount's $30-per-share cash offer includes financing from Affinity Partners, the investment firm run by Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, and several Middle Eastern government-run investment funds, and is backstopped by the Ellison family. Larry Ellison, the world's second-richest person, is the father of Paramount head David Ellison and has close ties to the White House.
Larry Ellison called Trump after the Netflix deal was announced and told him the transaction would hurt competition, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a White House official and a person familiar with the matter.
The studio argues its bid for the entirety of Warner Bros Discovery is superior to
Netflix, giving shareholders $18 billion more in cash and an easier path to
regulatory approval. It said a Paramount-Warner Bros combination, which would be among the largest media deals in history, would be in the best interest of
the creative community, movie theaters and consumers, who would benefit from enhanced competition.
"We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood," Paramount CEO David Ellison said in a statement. Separately, he said Paramount's proposal offered "higher headline value, increased certainty in that value, greater regulatory certainty, and a pro-Hollywood, pro-consumer and pro-competition future."
