The board of directors of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) will say no to Paramount’s hostile offer of $30 per share and recommend its shareholders reject the offer and instead support the existing deal with Netflix, according to what Reuters said was close to the company.
The decision to gamble on Netflix’s takeover bid would mark the latest turning point in Paramount and Netflix’s careers for assets that include the historic Warner Bros. film and television studio. and its extensive film and television library, whose portfolio includes classics that have been Casablanca Yes Citizen Kane achieves great contemporary successes such as Harry Potter Yes Friends and all DC Comics sagas (Batman or Superman). Warner Bros. is the owner of the service streaming HBO Max.
Before the board’s rejection, Paramount and its executive director, David Ellison, will have to decide whether or not to increase their purchase proposal. Warner’s shares are trading slightly below $30, suggesting that UPS are expecting an increase in supply. Paramount says its bid provides a clearer path to regulatory approval. A Warner Bros. spokesperson Discovery declined to comment.
Paramount and Netflix, one of the giants of the American audiovisual industry, are facing an attempted acquisition of the iconic film and television company Warner Bros. Discovery. Warner struck a deal with Netflix to sell the company for $82.7 billion, including cash, after which Paramount entered the picture with a hostile takeover for $108,000 million, although the prices are not comparable because each offer includes a different set of assets.
The winner of the competition will get a big profit in the war streaming to ensure a large library of content which has been an acquisition goal for a long time. The struggle between large groups has opened the door to greater concentration of companies in a sector dominated in the United States by a handful of groups bringing together cinema, media, television and streaming.
Netflix had agreed to Warner’s advice to pay $27.75 per share, in cash and stock, for Warner’s research and services. streaming HBO Max. Paramount, for its part, went directly to shareholders with a hostile offer, offering $30 in cash for the entire company. Paramount’s offer expires on the following 8th month, at which point the company could decide whether or not to increase its offer.
In documents submitted to regulators, Paramount said its offer was higher than Netflix’s. Its offering is funded by $41 billion in new capital, backed by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital, and $54 billion in debt commitments from Bank of America, Citi and Apollo. Affinity Partners, owned by Jared Kushner, one of Paramount’s financial partners, is withdrawing from the litigation, according to Bloomberg.
On the other hand, the Screenwriters Guild (WGA) of the United States has denounced that the operation could violate antimonopoly laws, and senators like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Richard Blumenthal have warned the Department of Justice that the new company will have “the capacity to increase television prices in a context of inflation”.
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