David Zaslav-led company reportedly poised to advise shareholders to re-commit to Netflix deal
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is set to reject Paramount Skydance’s hostile takeover attempt, according to US reports.
The news was broken by Bloomberg, which also reported that Affinity Partners - the investment firm run by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner - was withdrawing from Paramount Skydance’s bid.
Paramount Skydance’s offer is backstopped by the Ellison Family and RedBird Capital, in addition to debt fully committed by Bank of America, Citi and Apollo.
A filing confirmed that Paramount’s tender offer would also be supported by $24bn in debt financing from sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
WBD is expected to advise its shareholders to reject Paramount Skydance’s bid, with a formal announcement expected later today in a move that would mark the latest development in the ongoing takeover saga for the owner of Succession, The Sopranos and House of the Dragon.
Ellison’s Paramount Skydance launched its latest attempt to acquire WBD on 8 December, just days after Netflix agreed a deal to buy the US studio’s streaming and studio assets.
Paramount has made an all-cash $30-a-share offer for the entirety of WBD including the Global Networks segment, compared with Netflix’s $27.75 offer - made up of cash and shares - for its HBO Max and studio division.
Ellison went direct to WBD shareholders with his proposal, describing it as “strategically and financially compelling”, after claiming the HBO owner’s chief exec David Zaslav had not responded to his most recent offer.
Paramount Skydance added that its offer provided “a superior alternative to the Netflix transaction”, claiming to offer quicker regulatory approval and placing a more realistic value on WBD’s cable assets compared with the Netflix proposal.
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