Warner Bros. Discovery’s board of directors has once again rejected Paramount Skydance’s amended tender offer.
In a press release, the board reiterated that it had “unanimously determined” that Paramount Skydance’s offers, as amended, “is not in the best interests of WBD and its shareholders” and does not meet the criteria of a “superior proposal” under the terms of its merger agreement with Netflix.
Netflix announced that it was going to buy Warner Bros, including the company’s games division, for $82.7 billion last month. Shortly thereafter, Paramount Skydance kicked off a hostile takeover bid for the entirety of Warner Bros Discovery, which its board swiftly rejected. This most recent rejection was an amendment to that bid.
“The Board unanimously determined that the Paramount’s latest offer remains inferior to our merger agreement with Netflix across multiple key areas,” said Samuel A. Di Piazza, Jr., chair of the Warner Bros. Discovery’s board.
“Paramount’s offer continues to provide insufficient value, including terms such as an extraordinary amount of debt financing that create risks to close and lack of protections for our shareholders if a transaction is not completed. Our binding agreement with Netflix will offer superior value at greater levels of certainty, without the significant risks and costs Paramount’s offer would impose on our shareholders.”
The board has now written to shareholders with additional detail on its recommendation, citing the offer’s insufficient value and “heightened risk of failure to close compared to Netflix[‘s deal].”
For more, read our feature, What does the Netflix deal mean for Warner Bros’s games division?
