Overview
- Warner Bros. Discovery rebuffed an initial takeover approach priced around $20 per share in recent weeks, according to Bloomberg’s reporting.
- Talks are continuing as sources indicate David Ellison is preparing a higher follow-up bid and could take an offer directly to shareholders.
- Paramount Skydance has explored financing, with Apollo Global Management discussed for debt support and the Ellison family providing backing, per multiple reports.
- A key sticking point is how to handle roughly $35 billion of WBD debt, and it remains unclear whether the first proposal included assuming that obligation.
- WBD plans to separate into a streaming-and-studios company and a global networks company next year, a move executives and some analysts argue could justify valuations closer to $30 per share and complicate any sale.