Warner Bros Discovery Urges Shareholders to Reject Paramount Skydance's $108.4bn Hostile Bid
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has urged its shareholders to reject Paramount Skydance's $108.4 billion hostile bid for the company, describing the offer as inadequate and risky. WBD emphasized that its deal with Netflix, valued at $82.7 billion for the sale of its studios, HBO network, and streaming service, offers superior certainty of value.
Paramount's all-cash offer aims to acquire the entire company including CNN. Paramount claims it has secured "all necessary financing" and presents a faster, more certain path than the Netflix deal. However, WBD accuses Paramount of misleading investors regarding a full backstop from the Ellison family and highlights the involvement of an "unknown and opaque revocable trust" used to support the bid.
The financing behind Paramount's bid reportedly includes outside backers such as Affinity Partners, founded by Jared Kushner, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, and the Qatar Investment Authority. Reports indicate that Kushner's Affinity Partners has stepped back from the process.
WBD chair Samuel A. Di Piazza Jr. stated that the Netflix merger offers superior and more certain value, warning that Paramount's proposal would impose significant costs on shareholders. In response, Paramount chair David Ellison defended the bid, asserting it would create a global entertainment leader and citing positive feedback from WBD shareholders.
Market reactions include WBD's market value at about $71 billion with shares down approximately 1%, Paramount valued near $14 billion with shares down around 4%, and Netflix valued at about $444 billion with shares up approximately 1.4%.
