When it was announced that Warner Bros. had accepted Netflix’s bid and would be buying the century old studio, we though that question had been answered, and the bidding war for WB was over. However, that’s proven to be anything but the case, as Paramount has not given up on the possibility of winning the studio. First it launched a hostile takeover bid, and now its filed a lawsuit.
According to Variey, this morning Paramount Skydance filed a lawsuit in Delaware court asking that Warner Bros. make public financial details of its decision to accept an $83 billion deal with Netflix. This comes after the board of Warner Bros. rejected Paramount’s $30 per share offer for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount Wants Warner Bros. To Disclose Why It Chose Netflix
Paramount has made eight bids for Warner Bros. over the last few months, and each one has been rejected. The Paramount offer does provide more money per share than the Netflix deal would, but WB has claimed that Paramount’s offer includes more risk, which makes the Netflix deal preferable even though it ultimately means less money.
The lawsuit essentially argues that WB should make its decision-making process public so that WB shareholders have the full picture, seemingly believing, or at least hoping, that if that were the case, shareholders might ultimately want the Paramount deal instead.
It was something of a shock when it was announced that Netflix had one the bidding war for Warner Bros. Everybody in the industry immediately began to wonder what that meant for the future of theatrical exhibition of Warner Bros. films. Netflix has been quite public about its desire to see theatrical windows shrink, though it has insisted that, at least in the short term, WB movies will stay in theaters.
The Battle For warner Bros. Appears Far From Over
While a Netflix deal would put one of America’s most storied film studios under the control of a streaming platform, a Paramount deal would further consolidate major studios together. We lost one independent studio when Disney bought Fox, and seeing Paramount and Warner Bros. coming together would continue to shrink the number of competing studios and likely shrink the number of theatrically released movies.
Many in the film industry don't like the Netflix deal, but there are upsides and downsides to either way Warner Bros. could go. While Netflix and Warner Bros. are calling it a done deal, Paramount clearly doesn’t think that’s the case. Whatever way this lawsuit goes, its existence is evidence that Paramount is going to continue to fight this battle for as long as possible. Considering that it could be years before a merger is finalized, this could all be going on for a very long time to come.
