Paramount–Skydance boosts hostile Warner Bros. Discovery bid with $40.4 billion equity financing guarantee
Paramount is making a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. (AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images / Getty Images)
Paramount Skydance hasn’t given up on acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery. On Monday, Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle and father of Paramount CEO David Ellison, said he has personally agreed to be responsible for $40.4 billion of equity financing for the company's offer, as well as any damage claims.
The backstory:
Earlier this month, Paramount Skydance launched a hostile bid worth about $74.4 billion, or $30 per share in cash, with $40 billion of the deal backed by the Ellison family trust, to convince Warner Bros. shareholders to reject the Netflix $72 billion deal. The Netflix deal is only for the studio and streaming business, while Paramount's all-cash bid is for all of Warner Bros., including CNN and Discovery.
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Warner's board was critical of the trust backing, arguing that Paramount had "consistently misled" shareholders about the Ellison family's backing because a "revocable trust is no replacement for a secured commitment."
Dig deeper:
Now, Larry Ellison is personally agreeing to be responsible for $40.4 billion of equity financing for Paramount’s offer, as well as any damage claims. And the company is also upping its payout if the deal is blocked by regulators to $5.8 billion — matching what Netflix has already put on the table for its proposed transaction.
Also on Monday, Netflix disclosed that it had refinanced part of its $59 billion bridge loan for its proposed acquisition. A regulatory filing outlined $15 billion in financing between revolving credit and delayed-draw term loans.
The Source: Information in this article was sourced from The Associated Press and previous FOX Television Stations reporting. This story was reported from Orlando.