Paramount Skydance announced on Monday an attempted hostile takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, offering the company’s shareholders USD 30 per share while bypassing the WBD management board. The offer concerns the acquisition of the entire company, including channels such as TVN and CNN, and amounts to USD 108 billion – USD 26 billion more than Netflix’s offer.
Paramount submitted the offer directly to shareholders
The corporation stated in a press release that it decided to publicly submit the offer to WBD shareholders while bypassing the management, because despite presenting six acquisition proposals, WBD’s leadership “never meaningfully engaged” in the negotiations.
“Paramount’s strategically and financially compelling offer to WBD shareholders provides a superior alternative to the Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) transaction, which offers inferior and uncertain value and exposes WBD shareholders to a protracted multi-jurisdictional regulatory clearance process with an uncertain outcome along with a complex and volatile mix of equity and cash,”
the statement said.
Paramount’s offer for WBD shares is USD 2.25 per share higher than Netflix’s bid, but unlike Netflix’s proposal, it includes the purchase of the entire company, together with the television channels, including CNN and TVN.