The David Ellison-led company announced Monday it’s suing Warner Bros Discovery for greater financial transparency, while also planning to nominate Paramount-friendly directors to Warner Bros’ board. The aggressive move aims to convince shareholders that Paramount’s hostile $30-per-share cash bid beats Netflix’s $27.75-per-share cash-and-stock offer.
Paramount also proposed an amendment to Warner Bros’ bylaws requiring shareholder approval for any separation of the company’s cable TV business, a key component of the Netflix deal that Paramount has dismissed as “virtually worthless.”
In a letter to Warner Bros shareholders, Paramount wrote:
“WBD has provided increasingly novel reasons for avoiding a transaction with Paramount, but what it has never said, because it cannot, is that the Netflix transaction is financially superior to our actual offer.”
Paramount’s amended $108.4 billion bid includes $40 billion in equity personally guaranteed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and $54 billion in debt. The company argues its all-cash offer provides more certainty and would face fewer regulatory hurdles than Netflix’s deal.
Warner Bros shares fell 1.5% in early trading Monday. Paramount’s tender offer expires January 21, though the company can extend it. At stake is Warner Bros’ film and television studios and content library, including ‘Harry Potter’ and DC Comics.