The offer presented by Paramount Skydance to buy Warner Bros. Discovery has stirred economic news in the United States in recent hours and could change the course of negotiations between Warner and Netflix, the global streaming giant which announced the acquisition of the entertainment group at the end of last week.
According to reports from the New York Times, Paramount’s new attack on Warner included a series of investors who supported the offer. One of them is private equity firm Affinity Partners, which attracted attention because it was founded by investor and businessman Jared Kushner – son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.
According to Warner, the $108.4 billion offer made by Paramount will be analyzed in the coming weeks. Within ten working days, the company will make the recommendation of the Board of Directors known to shareholders.
If there is a turnaround in the deal and Warner decides to go ahead with Paramount, the entertainment giant will have to pay Netflix a termination fine of nearly $3 billion.
To understand
Affinity Partners is an investment firm founded by Jared Kushner that focuses on investing in North American and Israeli companies.
The company receives much of its capital from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, such as Saudi Arabia, with the aim of creating so-called “investment corridors,” primarily between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Private Equity is an alternative investment method which involves the purchase of shares in private companies (not listed on the stock exchange) with high growth potential – through capital injection and participation in management.
The objective of this modality is to transform promising companies into larger and more profitable companies, which could possibly go public in the future, thus generating high returns for investors.
According to Paramount, businessman Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle and father of the company’s CEO, David Ellison, has committed to guarantee around $40 billion to make the offering possible – through the company RedBird Capital Partners. The company, in turn, brought together several investors, such as the Kushner Company, to return part of the investment to them.
So far it is unclear how much the company of Trump’s son-in-law offered as an investment. Paramount also had no comment.
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Trump on Netflix’s takeover of Warner: “It could be a problem”
Among the financiers of Paramount’s new bid for Warner are the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
In regulatory filings, according to the New York Times, Paramount said those investors would give up any stake in Warner’s governance or their board seats.
Still according to the New York Times, if Paramount finalizes the acquisition of Warner, Ellison and RedBird will be the majority shareholders of the new company.
Warner’s sale to Netflix ‘could be a problem,’ Trump says
In an interview with reporters last Sunday (12/7), US President Donald Trump promised that he would be directly involved in the matter and said that the transaction, which still depends on regulatory approval, could prove to be “a problem” for the market.
“I will be involved in this decision. It has to go through a whole process and we will see what happens,” the Republican told reporters. “But it’s a significant market share. That could be a problem.”
Still according to Trump, Netflix already has “a very large market share and, when they have Warner Bros., that share will increase a lot.”
Recently, the US president met with Netflix co-executive chairman Ted Sarandos.
According to the Polymarket platform, specializing in betting, the chances of Netflix finalizing the acquisition of Warner by the end of 2026 were 23% after Trump’s statements. Before the North American leader spoke, this percentage reached 60%.
Netflix announced the outcome of the deal
Netflix won the dispute and agreed to acquire Warner’s television and film studios and streaming division for amounts between US$72 billion (approximately 381.2 million reais) and US$83 billion (438 billion reais).
Netflix’s proposal was for between $28 and $30 per share, almost all in cash, plus a $5 billion fine if the deal was blocked by regulators. That package ended up besting offers from groups like Paramount Skydance and Comcast, which only wanted a piece of the business.
The deal will give Netflix control of one of Hollywood’s oldest and most valuable assets.
The platform will significantly increase its content production capacity and gain access to the studio’s extensive film library and iconic franchises like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
Netflix’s purchase of Warner is raising concerns in some sectors of the market. Investors are questioning the streaming network’s ability to run such a large business.
In addition, the company also faces obstacles related to antitrust legislation in the United States and Europe. The deal gives Netflix ownership of a competitor that builds on HBO Max and has nearly 130 million subscribers.
Warner Bros. Discovery is a multinational media and entertainment conglomerate. The company was formed from the merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc., finalized in April 2022.
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