Paramount Skydance launches rival bid for Warner Brothers Discovery

Paramount Skydance has made another bid to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery as it aims to eclipse Netflix’s rival bid to acquire the company’s studios and broadcast networks.

Paramount, backed by the billionaire Ellison family, said it is making a direct offer to shareholders of $30 per share to buy the entire company, including traditional television networks.

He said his bid was a “superior alternative” to Netflix’s offering, providing shareholders with more cash up front and a better chance of being approved by regulators.

President Donald Trump said “There may be problems” with Netflix’s acquisitionIt points to competition concerns given the size of the companies.

Speaking to CNBC, Paramount CEO David Ellison suggested that Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery would be “anti-competitive” and that it would give the company too much power over actors and other players in the industry.

“This is a terrible deal for Hollywood,” he said. He also said he had “great conversations” with Trump about the deal and believes the president cares about competition.

Netflix’s offer values ​​Warner Brothers’ studio and streaming networks, including HBO, at about $83 billion, including debt, compared with Paramount’s offer, which values ​​the entire company at $108.4 billion.

The boards of directors of both Netflix and Warner Brothers said Friday that they support the Netflix acquisition and that it will continue after other partners in Warner Brothers’ business are spun off into an independent company.

But Mr. Ellison, who had hoped to supplement Paramount’s own traditional television networks with networks owned by Warner Brothers, said he thought a standalone spin-off of those networks would set them up for failure and ultimately prove a mistake for shareholders.

“According to me [its shares are] “It will be worth a lot less than people claim,” he said.