Reuters
Source: Reuters
Paramount Skydance (PSKY.O), opens new tab on Monday launched a hostile bid worth $108.4 billion for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O), opens new tab, 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.
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.
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 also argued that 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.
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