Paramount Skydance on Monday launched a $108.4 billion hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), days after Warner agreed to be acquired by Netflix for $82.7 billion.
Paramount is going directly to WBD shareholders with an all-cash offer of $30 per share and noted that its offer gives shareholders $18 billion more cash than the Netflix deal, which offered $23.25 in cash and $4.50 in Netflix stock for a total of $27.75 per share.
Paramount is bidding for all of WBD, while Netflix’s deal with the company includes only its Hollywood studios and streaming operations.
CNBC was mentioned on Monday that those were the same terms from Paramount that WBD’s board rejected a week ago.
“We believe the WBD board is pursuing a subordinate proposal that exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of Global Networks’ linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process,” said Paramount CEO David Ellison. statement.
Paramount’s bid is backed by equity financing from the Ellison family and private equity firm RedBird Capital, in addition to $54 billion in debt commitments from Bank of America, Citi and Apollo.
Netflix came out on top on Friday after winning a bidding war against Paramount and Comcast, but Paramount’s hostile bid is sure to drag out the battle for one of Hollywood’s most iconic studios, a battle that has already dragged on for months.
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Netflix’s proposed deal has already raised antitrust questions, as it would combine two of the most popular streaming platforms into one. Additional, said President Donald Trump the deal “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined companies’ market share.
A deal between WBD and Paramount would likely raise similar concerns.
Netflix agreed to pay WBD $5.8 billion if the deal doesn’t go through. WBD would have to pay Netflix $2.8 billion if the deal falls through.
Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
