Warner Bros urges buyers to reject Paramount’s ‘inferior’ £81bn hostile takeover bid

The board of Warner Bros Discovery has urged shareholders to reject an £81billion hostile takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, branding it ‘inferior’ to an offer from Netflix.

In the latest twist in the blockbuster battle for control of the Hollywood studio behind films including Superman, Singin’ in the Rain and Harry Potter, bosses at Warner Bros said the offer from Paramount was ‘inadequate’ and poses a ‘significant risk’ to investors.

The board said Paramount had ‘consistently misled’ shareholders by claiming that its offer was guaranteed via a ‘full backstop’ from Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison and his family. ‘It does not, and never has,’ Warner Bros said.

Chairman Samuel Di Piazza said he was ‘confident that our merger with Netflix represents superior, more certain value’, with the board adding: ‘Paramount’s offer remains inferior.’

Netflix, whose hits range from Squid Game to Bridgerton, struck a deal to buy the film and streaming business of Warner Bros Discovery for £62billion this month. 

The agreement covered the Warner Bros studios and its streaming business behind Game of Thrones.

Blockbuster: Warner Bros Discovery is behind films including Superman (pictured), Singin’ in the Rain and Harry Potter

It was a spectacular swoop for a Hollywood giant by a tech upstart set up in the 1990s as a DVD rental firm.

But Paramount gatecrashed the deal days later with an £81billion offer for the entire Warner Bros Discovery business, including its television networks CNN, TNT Sports and the Discovery Channel.

Paramount, whose hits include The Godfather and Top Gun, is led by David Ellison, whose father Larry is an ally of Donald Trump and the world’s fifth-richest man with a fortune of £180billion. 

But Warner Bros doubted Paramount’s claim that it was backed by the Ellisons, saying the backstop was a family trust rather than Larry himself.

Paramount’s offer included financing from Affinity Partners, the investment firm run by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, but Affinity yesterday said it was no longer part of Paramount’s bid.