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Paramount sues WBD over Netflix deal. WBD says Paramountβs price is still inadequate.
Paramount Skydance escalated its hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) today by filing a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court against WBD, declaring its intention to fight Netflixβs acquisition.
In December, WBD agreed to sell its streaming and movie businesses to Netflix for $82.7 billion. The deal would see WBDβs Global Networks division, composed of WBD's legacy cable networks, spun out into a separate company called Discovery Global. But in December, Paramount submitted a hostile takeover bid and amended its bid for WBD. Subsequently, the company has aggressively tried to convince WBDβs shareholders that its $108.4 billion offer for all of WBD is superior to the Netflix deal.
Today, Paramount CEO David Ellison wrote a letter to WBD shareholders informing them of Paramountβs lawsuit. The lawsuit requests the court to force WBD to disclose βhow it valued the Global Networks stub equity, how it valued the overall Netflix transaction, how the purchase price reduction for debt works in the Netflix transaction, or even what the basis is for its βrisk adjustmentββ of Paramountβs $30 per share all-cash offer. Netflixβs offer equates to $27.72 per share, including $23.25 in cash and shares of Netflix common stock. Paramount hopes the information will encourage more WBD shareholders to tender their shares under Paramount's offer by the January 21 deadline.


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