Warner Bros. Discovery announced Tuesday it will restart talks with Paramount Skydance following the media giant’s revised offer – potentially heating up a bidding war with Netflix once again.
Paramount last week sweetened its $30 per share all-cash offer with an agreement to pay the $2.8 billion termination fee to Netflix, as well as a “ticking fee” for WBD shareholders worth $650 million.
WBD said Tuesday that a Paramount representative implied the company was also willing to up its offer to $31 a share if Warner engaged in meaningful deal talks – after previously accusing the company of not giving PSKY a fair chance against Netflix.
In December, Netflix agreed to pay $27.75 a share in cash in a deal worth $72 billion to acquire WBD’s studio and streaming business – potentially creating a Hollywood mammoth that owns everything from “Stranger Things” to the “Harry Potter” franchise.
Warner Bros. said Tuesday it will hold a shareholder vote on this deal on March 20. In the meantime, Netflix has the right to match any offer from competing bidders.
But confidence is growing inside Paramount that WBD will ultimately jettison the Netflix deal over concerns it will face insurmountable regulatory scrutiny, while also questioning the valuation of the offer, The Post reported earlier this week.
Meanwhile, activist investor Ancora Holdings – which has built a nearly $200 million stake in Warner Bros. – plans to oppose the Netflix deal, arguing the board did not sufficiently engage with Paramount, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Netflix and Paramount did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
While Paramount is seeking to acquire the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix’s deal hinges on the successful spin-off of Discovery Global, which includes cable assets like CNN, Discovery, TNT, TLC and Cartoon Network.
Paramount has argued that Versant, a flopped spin-off of NBCUniversal cable assets including CNBC and MS NOW, should act as a cautionary tale for WBD investors – claiming Discovery Global could be virtually worthless.
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