The tug of war for Warner Bros. has been heating up as text messages the CEO of Paramount sent have been revealed following his bid to buy the company.
It has been a rocky couple of days for big businesses in the film and TV industry, in case you haven't been keeping up.
To keep it short, Netflix shocked the world when it revealed that it had confirmed a massive deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and acquire its streaming and studio assets.
WBD, which owns channels including TLC, Cartoon Network and Boomerang, put itself up for sale in October after interest from several parties.
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As part of the staggering $72 billion deal, WBD shareholders would receive $27.75 per share.
However, not long after Netflix confirmed a deal, Paramount Skydance and its CEO, David Ellison, launched a hostile takeover bid, taking his offer straight to shareholders.
A hostile takeover in corporate dealings is essentially when a company moves to acquire another without the consent of the target company’s management.
Paramount's counter bid values the entire company at $108.4 bn, ultimately proposing to pay $30 per share. In contrast to Netflix, Paramount is looking to take control of all of WBD.
While this news came as a shock to many, what made the whole situation even more spicy was the revelation that Ellison had reportedly texted Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav after the news broke of the hostile bid.
The message became public after the company’s regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as it detailed the steps Paramount had been taking to unsuccessfully sway Warner Bros. into a deal.
The text message read: “David, I appreciate you’re underwater today so I wanted to send you a quick text.
“Know despite the noise of the last 24 hours I have nothing but respect and admiration for you and the company…It would be the honor of a lifetime to be your partner and to be the owner of these iconic assets.
“If we have the privilege to work together you will see that my father and I are the people you had dinner with.”
Ellison also sent an email to his own company outlining why he thinks the acquisition would be good for them, according to Business Insider, which had viewed the leaked memo.
The memo read: “We believe the combination of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery represents a powerful opportunity to strengthen both companies and the entertainment industry as a whole.”
Topics: News, Film and TV, US News, Netflix
Gerrard Kaonga