Warner Bros. Discovery Board Rejects Rival Bid From Paramount

Warner Bros. Discovery’s board has rejected Paramount Skydance’s $108.4 billion hostile bid, saying it failed to provide adequate financing assurances, Dawn Chmielewski and Milana Vinn reported for Reuters.

In a letter to shareholders disclosed in a regulatory filing, the board wrote that Paramount had “consistently misled” Warner Bros. shareholders by claiming its $30-per-share cash offer was fully guaranteed, or “backstopped,” by the Ellison family, led by billionaire and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.

“It does not, and never has,” the board wrote of the guarantee, adding that the proposal posed “numerous, significant risks.”

The board said it found Paramount’s offer “inferior” to the merger agreement with Netflix.

The streaming giant’s $27.75-per-share bid for Warner Bros.’ film and television studios, content library, and HBO Max streaming service is a binding agreement that requires no equity financing and includes robust debt commitments, the board said.