{"id":332572,"date":"2025-12-08T15:03:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T15:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/332572\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T15:03:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T15:03:07","slug":"paramount-launches-a-hostile-takeover-bid-for-warner-bros-discovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/332572\/","title":{"rendered":"Paramount launches a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Paramount has gone straight to Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s shareholders with an all-cash offer for the company that it says is more valuable than Netflix\u2019s deal <\/a>announced Friday.\n <\/p>\n

\n Paramount was widely expected to be the frontrunner for Warner Bros. But WBD opted for Netflix, which it said offered a more lucrative deal. The proposed marriage with Netflix caught Hollywood insiders by surprise \u2014 including Paramount CEO David Ellison, who still contends that his deal was the better offer.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe\u2019re sitting on Wall Street, where cash is still king,\u201d Ellison told CNBC in an interview Monday. \u201cWe are offering shareholders $17.6 billion more cash than the deal they currently have signed up with Netflix. And we believe when they see what it currently in our offer, then that\u2019s what they\u2019ll vote for.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Paramount offered $30 per share in an all-cash deal for the entire company, while Netflix offered $27.75 for Warner Bros. and HBO \u2014 $23.25 per share in cash and $4.50 in stock. Netflix believes the eventual spinoff of WBD\u2019s cable assets, including CNN \u2014 not included in the Netflix deal \u2014 will be worth several dollars per share that will ultimately be worth more than Paramount\u2019s offer. Paramount, unlike Netflix, is seeking to buy WBD in its entirety.\n <\/p>\n

\n On Monday, Paramount said WBD shareholders should decide.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company,\u201d Ellison said in a statement. \u201cOur public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors in private, provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion. We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n In addition to his contention that his deal offers WBD shareholders more overall value, Ellison also made the argument that Paramount\u2019s offer stands a higher chance of regulatory approval. He noted to CNBC that Netflix\u2019s offer would combine the No. 1 streamer with HBO Max, which is No. 3 \u2014 a potentially unappealing prospect for skeptical antitrust authorities.\n <\/p>\n

\n Ellison touted his positive relationship with President Donald Trump (who similarly noted Sunday that he has a strong relationship with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos).\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI\u2019m incredibly grateful for the relationship that I have with the president,\u201d Ellison told CNBC. \u201cAnd I also believe he believes in competition. And when you fundamentally look at the marketplace, allowing the No. 1 streaming service to combine with the No. 3 streaming service is anticompetitive.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Ellison also appealed to consumers and the industry. He told CNBC on Monday the Netflix-WBD deal would spell \u201cthe death of the theatrical movie business in Hollywood.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s bad for the consumer, it\u2019s bad for the creative community,\u201d Ellison said. \u201cWe\u2019re sitting here trying to save it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n This is a developing story and will be updated.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paramount has gone straight to Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s shareholders with an all-cash offer for the company that it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,75,348],"class_list":["post-332572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}