Paramount counters Netflix with US$108 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros
Paramount’s offer came days after Netflix won a weeks-long bidding war to acquire Hollywood giant Warner Bros Discovery
Paramount Skydance on Monday launched a hostile bid worth US$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 US$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 US$30-per-share cash offer includes financing from Affinity Partners, the investment firm run by Jared Kushner, US 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 US$18 billion more in cash and an easier path to regulatory approval.