Why does Paramount Skydance need the Persian Gulf to finance its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery?
Netflix and Paramount face similar antitrust challenges in their competing bids to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, with regulators expected to scrutinize both deals.
Paramount Skydance's hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery places CNN and its sister cable networks squarely back into what is likely to be an extended period of management limbo.
Paramount Skydance's addition of three Gulf sovereign wealth funds to the cast of its $108 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery marks a relatively rare alliance among the states as they build their own entertainment industries.
On December 5, the entertainment world was rocked when Netflix and Warner Bros. announced a massive deal that set Netflix up to purchase the legendary Hollywood studio, creating one of the largest media entities of all time.
US stock futures were indicating small gains ahead of the opening bell in New York on Tuesday, after the previous session saw Wall Street end the winning run of the past week. Dow Jones futures were up 0.1%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were closer to flat.
Paramount Skydance has upended expectations in its battle with Netflix for control of Warner Bros Discovery Inc (NASDAQ:WBD, XETRA:J5A), shifting from apparent underdog to serious front-runner. The reason is simple: David Ellison has put forward a higher, cleaner and now fully financed offer that is resonating with shareholders increasingly uneasy about Netflix's bid.
Paramount Skydance is seeking to buy Warner Bros. Discovery at a $108.4 billion valuation.
Warner has until Dec. 22 to decide the fate of its existing $72 billion deal.
Paramount submitted an all-cash, $30-per-share tender offer to WBD shareholders Monday. That's the same bid WBD rejected last week when it chose to sell its studio and streaming assets to Netflix.
Paramount on Monday launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, initiating a potentially bruising battle with Netflix for the company behind HBO, CNN and DC Studios, and the right to reshape much of the nation's entertainment landscape.
The unavoidable noise surrounding Netflix's ( NFLX ) expansive, $72 billion buyout of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) is shaking up Wall Street today.