Warner Bros urges investors to vote down Paramount bid

Warner Bros Discovery has urged shareholders to reject a $108.4bn (£81bn) hostile takeover offer from Paramount Skydance, branding it “inadequate” amid an extraordinary corporate battle to control the legacy media conglomerate.

- Richard Luscombe

WBD agreed to sell its storied film studios, HBO cable network and streaming service to Netflix in a $82.7bn deal this month, setting the stage for a seismic shift in Hollywood's industrial landscape.

But Paramount, which had privately bid for WBD before the Netflix deal was unveiled, countered with an all-cash offer and vowed to take it directly to shareholders. Unlike Netflix, Paramount - which is controlled by the billionaire Ellison family - bid for the entire company, which includes the CNN news network.

In a blunt letter to shareholders yesterday, WBD accused Paramount of having misled investors by claiming its bid had a “full backstop” - a safety net to ensure it has sufficient funds - from the Ellisons.

Paramount later reaffirmed its offer, saying it had lined up “all necessary financing” for a bid that offered “superior value and a faster, more certain path” than the Netflix deal.