Paramount Skydance revised its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday with a guarantee that Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison — the father of Paramount’s chairman and chief executive, David Ellison — would personally guarantee more than $40 billion in financing.
Larry Ellison is one of the world’s richest people and a close ally of President Donald Trump, whose administration will need to approve any deal for Warner Bros.
Its board agreed to sell most of its media properties to streaming giant Netflix under an $83 billion deal announced this month. Paramount, one of the unsuccessful bidders, launched an unsolicited bid to buy the media conglomerate outright for $30 a share. Warner Bros. has advised its shareholders that the Netflix offer is superior: It offered a lower price point — an estimated $27.75 per share — but would not buy the company’s cable properties, such as news giant CNN, which would be spun off. Paramount’s bid is for the entire company.
Warner Bros. also took issue with Paramount’s financing for the deal, which is highly dependent on outside funding. The amended offer, including the elder Ellison’s personal guarantee, is in response to this criticism.
“Larry Ellison is now personally guaranteeing $40.4 billion of the equity financing for Paramount’s $30 per share cash offer, nullifying this claim by Warner Bros. and further demonstrating Paramount’s determination to keep knocking down the hurdles Warner Bros. keeps erecting to avoid simply engaging in good faith on Paramount’s financially superior offer,” the company wrote in the regulatory filing.
“Paramount has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to acquiring WBD,” David Ellison wrote in a statement. “Our $30 per share, fully financed all-cash offer was on Dec. 4, and continues to be, the superior option to maximize value for WBD shareholders. Because of our commitment to investment and growth, our acquisition will be superior for all WBD stakeholders, as a catalyst for greater content production, greater theatrical output, and more consumer choice.”
Representatives for Warner Bros. and Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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