The board of Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday said it was recommending that shareholders reject the hostile takeover bid from Paramount Skydance and its controlling shareholders, the Ellison family.
The company’s board said in a statement that it determined the Paramount Skydance offer “is not in the best interests of WBD and its shareholders.”
The Warner Bros. board’s recommendation to shareholders effectively means Paramount’s offer is dead. Paramount could, however, return with a higher offer.
“This offer once again fails to address key concerns that we have consistently communicated to Paramount throughout our extensive engagement and review of their six previous proposals,” WBD’s chair, Samuel Di Piazza, said.
Warner Bros. Discovery said it was instead sticking with its initially announced deal to sell its studio, HBO, and HBO Max to Netflix. “The terms of the Netflix merger are superior,” WBD said in a letter to shareholders.
Paramount launched a hostile takeover bid valued at more than $108 billion for all of Warner Bros. Discovery just days after the media giant announced plans to sell some of its prized assets to Netflix.
Paramount, led by David Ellison, had argued that it could secure faster approval for a deal than any transaction with Netflix.
Ellison, whose father Larry is chairman of tech giant Oracle and a multi-billionaire, pledged to help backstop Paramount’s Warner bid. Larry Ellison is also close to the Trump administration.
But in recent days, President Donald Trump has criticized both Paramount and its new owners, the Ellisons.
On Tuesday, Trump said, “For those people that think I am close with the new owners of CBS, please understand that 60 Minutes has treated me far worse since the so-called ‘takeover’ than they have ever treated me before.”
“If they are friends, I’d hate to see my enemies!” Trump added on Truth Social.
Netflix said it welcomed Warner Bros.’ rejection of Paramount.
“The Warner Bros. Discovery Board reinforced that Netflix’s merger agreement is superior and that our acquisition is in the best interest of stockholders,” said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
“This was a competitive process that delivered the best outcome for consumers, creators, stockholders, and the broader entertainment industry,” Sarandos continued.
Paramount did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
On Tuesday, Jared Kushner’s private equity firm withdrew from a group of funds that had said they would support the Paramount bid for WBD with funding.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
