Entertainment News
Entertainment News
In a bold move, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has gone straight to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders with a $108.4 billion hostile bid, openly contesting Netflix’s deal for the historic studio. His bid, worth $30 a share in cash for all of Warner Bros. Discovery, would take over the entire company and its TV networks, not just the studio and streaming arm. (Reuters)
Netflix had been declared the preferred buyer after weeks of positioning, with an offer valued at around $82–83 billion, or about $27.75 per share, for Warner’s film and TV studios, HBO and its streaming platforms, but excluding legacy cable channels such as CNN. (The Verge). Warner’s board backed that structure on the grounds that shareholders would continue to own stock in both companies once Warner split into separate entities. (Defector)
Ellison is now appealing directly to investors, arguing that his all-cash tender is simpler, richer and more likely to clear regulators because it prevents Netflix from swallowing a major rival. (Financial Times). His financing lineup includes the Ellison family, private-equity firm RedBird Capital, Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, a mix that has already drawn questions from lawmakers about political influence and national-security oversight. (Fortune)
For now, Warner’s board says it will review Paramount’s approach with advisers while maintaining its recommendation in favor of the Netflix deal. Shareholders have until early January to decide whether to tender their stock into Ellison’s offer, and he has hinted the $30-a-share price may not be his last word if resistance persists. (Financial Times).
Behind the legal language is a blunt question for Hollywood and viewers: who should control one of the industry’s broadest film libraries and the HBO brand? A Netflix win would cement its status as the dominant global streamer; an Ellison victory would fuse Paramount and Warner into a new mega-studio with enormous leverage over talent, theaters and audiences worldwide. Either way, analysts expect heavy consolidation, job cuts and tougher competition and a reshaped media landscape built around whichever bidder ultimately prevails. .(The Verge).
Sources: (Reuters) .(The Verge) (Defector) (Financial Times). (Fortune)
