Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison met with Trump officials and key lawmakers in Washington DC on Wednesday to press his case against Warner Bros. Discovery’s potential selection of Netflix as its merger partner – even as the streaming giant submitted a higher offer in the latest round of bidding, The Post has learned.
Netflix has submitted a bid valued at $28 a share – edging past a Paramount Skydance bid for the entire company valued in the $26 to $27 range, a source close to the situation told The Post. It’s unclear where the bidding for Thursday’s third-round bidding stands, but officials at Paramount Skydance are arguing that even at a higher level, Netflix’s offer must be discounted because of the uncertainty it brings.
The DC visit comes amid mounting pessimism from Paramount Skydance about its bid; senior executives believe the WBD is inclined to nix its offer in favor of Netflix despite the latter’s regulatory hurdles, as first reported by the Post. As reported, Paramount Skydance signaled in multiple letters this week that it could go hostile with its offer for WBD – arguing that the Netflix deal poses unacceptable risks for WBD shareholders.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Ellison was in Washington with his legal team headed by Makan Delrahim, Trump’s former DOJ antitrust chief, sources said. They underscored in conversations with Trump officials and lawmakers in Congress why Netflix’s proposed deal to acquire its Warner Bros. studio and HBO Max streaming service should be throttled on antitrust grounds, sources said.
The combination would combine the nation’s largest streaming service, Netflix, with the third largest in HBO Max as well as a leading studio.
Ellison’s meetings in Washington capped a frenzied day of dealmaking and political gamesmanship for the one-time independent movie producer who along with his father, mega billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, are attempting to build a media empire by purchasing all of WBD assets, a deal that could cost between $60 billion and $70 billion.
Worrying the Ellisons is the word from WBD that the board may well take a chance and pick Netflix as a winner, despite opposition from the Trump administration where officails are worried about Netflix’s alleged monopolistic power in the streaming space. Combined with HBO Max, Netflix would control 400 million streaming subs and a major studio.
But, as The Post was first to report, Zaslav is warming up to Netflix’s bid for two of the largest chunks of the company, its streaming service and studio, and looks willing to fight in court any rejection from Trumps DOJ antitrust.
All of which would upend the Ellisons’ grand ambitions, which began with their unsolicited offer to buy the company known as WBD in September for $23.50 a share.
Netflix, meanwhile, has hired veteran telecom lawyer Steve Sunshine to make the case that the streaming king wouldn’t obtain monopoly pricing power in the streaming space with the WBD purchase because of the rise of programming alternatives to live YouTube and various forms of social media.
A spokeswoman for Paramount Skydance declined to comment. Reps for Zaslav and Netflix didn’t return requests for comment.
The DC lobbying by Ellison and his team is seen as further proof that what was once seen as a near done deal to purchase WBD, based on its access to cash through Larry Ellison’s fortune and ties to the Trump administration could be slipping away. Paramount Skydance is making an all-cash bid for the entire company, including cable channels CNN and HBO and promising Zaslav and the WBD board a glide path through US regulators.
Netflix is offering mostly cash in its bid and obvious resistance from the Trump administration, and as reported, its Department of Justice’s antitrust division. But Zaslav and Sarandos are close, and the WBD chief may be willing to fight the government’s attempt to block a Netflix deal in federal court, people close to the matter say.
Media giant Comcast is also bidding on the WBDs studio and streaming service but its offer appears the weakest since it’s a combination of cash and stock.
In addition to the DC lobbying, David Ellison has sent at least two letters to the WBD board, one which warned the company that it has no chance to gain Trump regulatory approval and uncertainty in the federal courts that could depreciate its assets. A second more strident letter came Thursday, just as WBD was asking for another round of bids.
In that Paramount Skydance wrote that WBD “embarked on a myopic process with a predetermined outcome that favors a single bidder.” It accused top officials involved in weighing the bids of conflict of interests since they might be offered jobs at the combined entity if Netflix wins.
Reps for Paramount Skydance say the letter is a warning shot to WBD that it might take its offer above to board an appeal for its shareholders because of the low likelihood of regulatory approval of the Netflix offer.
Credit: Source link
