Warner Bros Discovery Set to Reject $108.4 Billion Paramount Bid, Stick With Netflix Offer in High-Stakes Media Battle

As per Reuters, the first bullet says the value of the deal is $72 billion, not $27 billion

• Netflix’s $72 billion bid includes Warner Bros’ non-cable assets

• Paramount claims its bid offers a clearer regulatory path, backed by the Ellison family

• Affinity Partners exits Paramount’s financing, Bloomberg reports

• By Milana Vinn and Dawn Chmielewski

Dec 16 (Reuters) – Warner Bros Discovery’s WBD.O board could announce a decision as early as Wednesday on Paramount Skydance’s PSKY.O $108.4 billion takeover bid, with the board likely to advise shareholders to vote against the offer, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The decision to recommit to Netflix’s NFLX.Obuyout offer would mark the latest twist in the race for assets that include Warner Bros’ storied film and TV studio, and its extensive film and television library, whose portfolio includes classics ranging from “Casablanca” and “Citizen Kane” to contemporary favorites like “Harry Potter” and “Friends,” HBO, and the HBO Max streaming service.

A Warner Bros Discovery spokesman declined to comment.

The winner will gain a big advantage in the streaming wars by locking up a deep content library that has long been an acquisition target.

Netflix earlier this month emerged victorious with a $27 cash-and-stock bid for Warner Bros’ non-cable assets.

Paramount CEO David Ellison then went directly to Warner Bros’ shareholders with a $30-a-share, all-cash bid for the whole company.

In regulatory filings, Paramount has said its bid is superior to Netflix’s offer and would enjoy a clearer path to regulatory approval. Its offer is financed by $41 billion in new equity, which the Ellison family and RedBird Capital back, and $54 billion of debt commitments from Bank of America, Citi, and Apollo.

Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, which was one of Paramount’s financing partners, is exiting the battle, according to Bloomberg.

Paramount and Affinity Partners did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

(Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York and Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles, Editing by Ken Li, Dawn Kopecki and Nick Zieminski)

(INPUTS FROM REUTERS)