- Skydance-owned Paramount has extended its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, offering $77.9 billion or $30 per share in cash and pushing the deadline for shareholders to sell their shares to 20 February.
- Warner Bros. Discovery has repeatedly rejected Paramount's offer, saying it prefers a "superior" all-cash merger agreement with Netflix, valued at $72 billion for Warner's studio and streaming business or $27.75 per share.
- Paramount's bid has only secured tenders for a fraction of the required shares, while Warner claims over 93 per cent of its shareholders have spurned Paramount's "inferior scheme."
- The complexity of the bids differs significantly: Netflix aims to acquire only Warner's studio and streaming assets, whereas Paramount seeks to take over the entire company, including its news and cable operations like CNN.
- The acquisition process is expected to be protracted, facing considerable antitrust scrutiny and potential political considerations, regardless of which suitor ultimately prevails.
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