Warner Bros’ board rejected Paramount’s offer: Board said – there is more risk in Paramount’s deal; Netflix deal better for customers

The board of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) company has rejected Paramount Skydance’s $108.4 billion hostile takeover bid. The board described this offer as weak and inadequate. On Wednesday, the board said Paramount’s cash offer does not guarantee reliable financing and involves high financial and operational risks.

The board considered Netflix’s second bid better and asked shareholders to support the Netflix deal.

No guarantee of financing in Paramount’s bid

The WBD board said in the letter that Paramount’s offer is not superior to the existing Netflix merger agreement. Paramount’s bid does not guarantee financing and the risk is high.

The board asked shareholders to vote on the Netflix deal that would be better for customers. This bid is Paramount’s attempt to prevent a hostile takeover.

Paramount had offered $108.4 billion

Last week, Paramount Skydance launched a hostile bid of $ 108.4 billion (Rs 9.7 lakh crore) to buy Warner Bros Discovery (WBD). This bid is challenging Netflix’s Rs 72 (Rs 6.47 lakh crore) billion deal.

Paramount has proposed buying the entire company for $30 per share, while Netflix had offered $28 per share for the TV, film studio and streaming assets. At the same time, today Trump has also interfered in this deal and put pressure on Warner Bros Discovery not to deal with Netflix.

Netflix had announced to buy for ₹ 6.47 lakh crore

Netflix on Friday won a $72 billion equity deal for WBD’s TV, film studio and streaming assets. Whereas Paramount’s offer is for the entire company, which also includes cable networks – CNN, TNT, Discovery. “We’re here to finish what we started,” Skydance CEO David Ellison told CNBC.

Paramount had given many offers before this also.

Paramount had made several offers since September to become a media powerhouse challenging tech giants like Netflix and Apple. But WBD rejected it.

Paramount wrote a letter to WBD saying the sale process was not fair and Netflix was already declared the winner. WBD management called the Netflix deal a “slam dunk” and criticized Paramount’s offer, reports said.