Overview
- Warner Bros. Discovery’s board has accepted and recommended Netflix’s roughly $82.7 billion all-cash offer for studio and streaming assets, with linear networks to be spun off into a separate Discovery Global entity.
- Paramount Skydance has countered with a hostile all-cash bid of about $108 billion for the entire company, which the board rejected, and its tender offer runs through Feb. 20 amid an active proxy fight.
- CNBC reports shareholders are likely to vote on the Netflix transaction in March, and the New York Post reports WBD filed an amended proxy statement to accelerate the timetable.
- U.S. and European competition authorities are reviewing the proposals, and a Senate Judiciary subcommittee plans a hearing Tuesday where Netflix and WBD are expected to appear, according to the Post.
- Disney CEO Bob Iger called the 2019 Fox acquisition “ahead of its time” and said Disney does not plan to buy more IP in response to the WBD takeover battle.