Warner Bros. Discovery’s board of directors on Wednesday rejected Paramount Skydance’s revised hostile bid, saying that its terms are inferior to Warner’s $82.7 billion merger agreement with Netflix.
“Our binding agreement with Netflix will offer superior value at greater levels of certainty, without the significant risks and costs Paramount’s offer would impose on our shareholders,” Warner Bros. Discovery’s board said in a statement.
The rebuff is the second from Warner Bros. Discovery of Paramount Skydance’s efforts to acquire the storied studio, which has produced films such as “Casablanca” and the “Harry Potter” franchise and owns cable networks including CNN and TNT.
Paramount Skydance, the parent company of CBS News, owns the Paramount studios and cable networks including Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.
Warner Bros. Discovery in December rebuffed Paramount Skydance’s most recent hostile bid, citing a lack of personal backing from the Ellison family.
Paramount Skydance later returned with an improved offer that included a personal guarantee from Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison — the father of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison — for $40.4 billion in equity financing.
But on Wednesday, Warner Bros. Discovery turned down the latest offer as well, stating that Paramount Skydance’s bid posed “significant costs, risks and uncertainties” compared with the Netflix merger. Warner Bros. Discovery also said Paramount Skydance’s offer would burden the combined company with significant debt.
Paramount Skydance didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
— This is a developing story and will be updated
