Warner Bros rejects takeover offer from Paramount, tells shareholders to stick with Netflix bid

Warner Bros. again rejected Paramount’s latest takeover bid and told shareholders yesterday to stick with a rival offer from Netflix.

Warner’s leadership has repeatedly rebuffed Skydance-owned Paramount’s overtures — and urged shareholders just weeks ago to back its the sale of its streaming and studio business to Netflix for $72 billion. Paramount, meanwhile, has sweetened its $77.9 billion offer for the entire company and gone straight to shareholders with a hostile bid.

Warner Bros. Discovery said yesterday that its board determined Paramount’s offer is not in the best interests of the company or its shareholders. It again recommended shareholders support the Netflix deal.

Late last month Paramount announced an “irrevocable personal guarantee” from Oracle founder Larry Ellison — who is the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison — to back $40.4 billion in equity financing for the company’s offer. Paramount also increased its promised payout to shareholders to $5.8 billion if the deal is blocked by regulators, matching what Netflix already put on the table.

If Netflix is successful, Warner’s news and cable operations would be spun off into their own company, under a previously-announced separation.