NETFLIX WITHDRAWS FROM WARNER BROS BID AND PARAMOUNT PREVAILS WITH AN OFFER OF $31 PER SHARE - Filenews 27/2
Netflix announced on Thursday that it does not intend to increase its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, effectively withdrawing from the process, as it judged that a higher proposal would not be financially viable. Thus, Paramount Skydance gains the lead, which submitted an offer of $31 per share.
The heads of the streaming giant have made it clear that they "refuse" to submit a bid higher than that of Paramount Skydance, after the board of directors of WBD deemed it "superior".
Which means that the well-known Hollywood studio and various television networks owned by it, including CNN, will come into the possession of Paramount Skydance, dramatically reshaping the media landscape in the US.
Paramount Skydance submitted a new bid within the seven-day deadline given to it by WBD, to convince the management of the latter to cancel the deal it had concluded with Netflix for the acquisition.
Under an arrangement made in advance, Netflix would then have four days to decide whether to bid.
Netflix has agreed to let WBD consider a possible latest offer from Paramount Skydance to end the "joke", in the previous episode of the much-praised series that lasted months.
Paramount Skydance offered $31 per share, up from $30 previously, meaning that, taking into account WBD's debts, its value will rise to about $110 billion. dollars.
The offer involves unusual financial manoeuvring and personal financial backing from Larry Ellison, founder of the Oracle group and father of Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison.
WBD has scheduled an extraordinary general meeting of its shareholders on March 20 to decide its future.
Larry Ellison is a strong supporter of President Donald Trump – the latter insisted from the beginning that he would personally have the final say on the acquisition of the film and television studio with a huge catalogue and its channels, especially CNN.
