Paramount makes rival offer for Warner Bros

Paramount Skydance has launched a $108bn hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery, after Friday’s announcement that Netflix had agreed to buy the entertainment company’s studio and streaming operation.

- Jeremy Barr

Netflix's bid for Warner Bros’ Hollywood movie studio, as well as its premier HBO cable network, valued the company at $82.7bn, but it did not agree to acquire its traditional television assets, including the news network CNN and the Discovery channel.

Paramount’s all-cash offer sent directly to shareholders yesterday morning would be for the entire company, and puts a total value of $108.4bn on Warner Bros, a major premium to its stock price.

In making its case to shareholders, Paramount claimed its acquisition of the company would provide significantly better value for shareholders, and be much likelier to survive regulatory scrutiny.

Paramount’s David Ellison and his father, the billionaire tech mogul Larry Ellison, whose family is financially backing the deal, are both friendly with the Trump administration, which had previously indicated that it supported a Paramount purchase of Warner. Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, had even had early conversations with a Trump aide about what changes he might want to see at CNN.Donald Trump has praised recent changes at Paramount since its acquisition by the Ellisons, including the selection of the controversial commentator Bari Weiss as editor in chief of CBS News. Paramount is also bringing back the Rush Hour franchise for a fourth film, reportedly at the request of Trump.