Warner Bros. Sticks with Netflix Offer, Turns Down Paramount Again
New York – Warner Bros. has once again declined an offer from Paramount to take over the company. Leaders at Warner Bros. are telling their shareholders to support a different deal with Netflix.
Warner Bros. has said no to Paramount several times before and weeks ago encouraged shareholders to approve selling its streaming and studio parts to Netflix for $72 billion. Paramount has offered $77.9 billion for the entire company and has taken its offer directly to the shareholders.
Warner Bros. Discovery said that the board decided the Paramount offer is not what is best for the company or its shareholders. They are still recommending that shareholders go with the Netflix deal.
Paramount recently announced that Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle and father of Paramount CEO David Ellison, would guarantee $40.4 billion in financing for the offer. Paramount also increased its payment to shareholders to $5.8 billion if regulators block the deal, which matches what Netflix has offered.
The deals are different because Netflix only wants Warner’s studio and streaming parts, like HBO Max. Paramount wants the whole company, including networks like CNN and Discovery.
If Netflix succeeds, Warner’s news and cable channels would become their own separate company.
Any merger will likely be closely looked at by regulators. The Justice Department will probably review the deal because of its size and potential impact. They could sue to stop the deal or ask for changes. Regulators in other countries might also challenge the merger.
