Paramount Files a Lawsuit Against Warner Bros. Discovery
The corporate battle between media conpanies just got a lot more heated. Paramount has issued Warner Bros. Discovery with a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court, demanding that the court force WBD to disclose key details about its $82.7 billion deal with Netflix. This comes only days after WBD's board turned down Paramount Skydance's latest sweetened takeover bid for the second time.
During last month Netflix dropped the bombshell that it planned to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in full, games division included, for $82.7 billion. Paramount Skydance quickly countered with a hostile bid to take over the entire company, but WBD's directors shut it down fast. The most recent no came after Paramount revised and bumped up their offer, yet the board still said thanks but no thanks.
Paramount CEO David Ellison isn't backing down. In a letter sent to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders today, he made his case loud and clear, pushing for more transparency so investors can decide what's truly best for them."WBD has provided increasingly novel reasons for avoiding a transaction with Paramount, but what it has never said, because it cannot, is that the Netflix transaction is financially superior to our actual offer," Ellison wrote in a letter not his own but Warner Bros. Discovery's shareholders earlier today.
He then laid out the math from his side."Our $30 per share in cash is simply more than Netflix's complex multi-variable consideration comprised of (a) $23.25 in cash plus (b) a number of Netflix shares currently worth $4.11 (at Friday's close) plus (c) the to-be-issued Global Networks equity which we have analyzed as having zero equity value."In addition to not disclosing the value of the to-be-issued Global Networks spin off, WBD has not disclosed the mechanism by which any debt transferred from Global Networks to the Streaming & Studios segment reduces the cash and stock consideration payable to you.
"The lawsuit filed today asks the court to step in and order WBD to hand over the missing pieces, basically so shareholders get everything they need to make a smart call on whether to tender their shares into Paramount's offer.Ellison was careful to note that this step wasn't taken lightly, framing it as a push toward better dialogue rather than all-out war.These actions had not been taken "lightly" but were done in the hope of securing "constructive discussions with WBD's Board to reach an agreement."
Recently Larry Ellison his father, as a head of major investor consortium acquired TikTok's U.S. operations.TikTok's parent company, ByteDance (based in China), agreed to spin off and sell a controlling stake in its American business to avoid a potential U.S. ban under national security laws.
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