Ellison's $40 bn backing boosts Paramount's Warner Bros bid

Personal guarantee seeks to allay WBD's doubts over financing; Netflix refinances part of $59 bn bridge loan tied to deal

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Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison will provide a personal guarantee of $40.4 billion in equity financing to back Paramount Skydance's all-cash $108.4 billion bid for Warner Bros Discovery, a regulatory filing showed on Monday.

The guarantee aims to address Warner Bros board's doubts over Paramount's deal financing and the lack of a full backing from the Ellison family, which had led the company to prefer a cash-and-stock deal with Netflix.

Paramount said the amended terms do not change the $30-per-share all-cash offer. The bidding war for Hollywood's most prized assets shows no sign of ending soon as the winner will gain a big advantage in the streaming wars by locking up a deep content library that has long been the target of blockbuster deals.