New York (AFP) – Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday rejected a hostile takeover bid by Paramount launched last week to trump plans by streaming giant Netflix to acquire the Hollywood giant and owner of CNN. In a statement, Warner Bros. said the terms of the Netflix merger were better, while the Paramount offer “once again fails to address key concerns that we have consistently communicated…throughout our extensive engagement and review of their six previous proposals.”
“We are confident that our merger with Netflix represents superior, more certain value for our shareholders,” it said. Netflix shocked the industry on December 5 by announcing it had sealed an agreement to buy the film and television studio for nearly $83 billion, the entertainment industry’s biggest consolidation deal this decade. Three days later, Paramount — whose CEO is David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, an ally of Donald Trump — launched an all-cash tender offer valuing the entertainment giant at $108.4 billion.
But Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday described the Paramount offer as risky, saying it was backed up by “an unknown and opaque revocable trust” and involved “no Ellison family commitment of any kind,” among other factors. “The value we have secured for shareholders through the Netflix merger is extraordinary by any measure,” it said.
President Donald Trump repeatedly weighed in on the bidding war, saying Netflix’s deal “could be a problem” as it would be left with a huge market share of the film and TV industry. He later said that he wanted to ensure CNN gets new ownership as part of the Warner Bros. Discovery sale, targeting the news outlet he has long feuded with.
Unlike Netflix’s offer, Paramount’s latest bid included the buyout of cable channels such as CNN, TNT, TBS, and Discovery — which would be added to its group of TV assets like CBS, MTV, and Comedy Central. As Netflix emerged as the likely winning bidder for Warner Bros. — the studio behind “Casablanca,” the “Harry Potter” movies, and “Friends” — Hollywood’s elite launched an aggressive campaign against the acquisition.
The streaming giant is viewed as a pariah in some Hollywood circles, largely due to its reluctance to release content in theaters and its disruption of traditional industry practices. In an interview Tuesday in Paris, Netflix chief executive Ted Sarandos said it would continue to distribute Warner Bros. films in cinemas if its takeover bid for the storied studio is successful. “We’re going to continue to operate Warner Bros. studios independently and release the movies traditionally in cinema,” he said, while admitting his past comments on theatrical distribution “now confuse people.”
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