Overview
- The board unanimously urged shareholders to reject Paramount Skydance’s $30-per-share, all-cash tender that values WBD at about $108.4 billion.
- Netflix’s binding $82.7 billion agreement covers Warner Bros. studios, HBO and HBO Max, with the cable networks slated to be spun off as Discovery Global.
- WBD said Paramount’s plan would load the company with roughly $87 billion of debt, describing it as the largest leveraged buyout on record and a threat to closing.
- Leaving the Netflix agreement would cost about $4.7 billion in fees and financing charges, including a $2.8 billion termination fee to Netflix.
- Paramount on Thursday reiterated that its bid is superior after adding Larry Ellison’s $40.4 billion personal guarantee and a $5.8 billion reverse termination fee, but it has not raised the $30 price.