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warner brothers Discovery asks shareholders to reject rival’s hostile takeover bid of great quality Skydance.
It has resisted the approach and insisted it favors a deal from the streaming giant Netflix To take control of its movie studios, cable networks and streaming services.
The boss of Warner Bros., which creates franchises such as harry potter And batmanSaid that Paramount’s proposed deal was “inadequate” and poses “significant risks” to shareholders.
Samuel Di Piazza Jr., chairman of the board of directors of Warner Bros., said: “This proposal once again fails to address the key concerns that we have consistently communicated to Paramount during our extensive engagement and review of their six previous proposals.
“We believe our merger with Netflix represents better, more assured value for our shareholders and we look forward to delivering the attractive benefits of our combination.”
Paramount filed a US$30 billion (£22.50) share bid for Warner Bros. just days after the company agreed to be bought by Netflix in a deal worth US$72 billion (£54 billion) in early December.
Paramount’s offer values Warner Bros. at $108.4 billion (£81.3 billion) including debt, higher than Netflix’s $27.75 (£20.81) per share offer, which values Warner Bros. at $72 billion or $82.7 billion (£62 billion) including debt.
Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery film and TV studios business while Paramount has made a bid for the entire Warner Bros.
Earlier on Wednesday, private equity firm Affinity Partners, owned by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, had withdrawn its support from Paramount’s bid.
After Mr Trump previously warned that Warner Bros’ Netflix acquisition “could be a problem” due to its combined market share, he confirmed he would be involved in the decision on whether the US federal government should approve the deal.
In its appeal to Warner Bros. shareholders, Paramount said its offer would be more likely to pass regulatory scrutiny.
Mr. Kushner’s decision to withdraw financial support of his company is being seen as taking away Paramount’s potential leverage in securing Mr. Trump’s approval.
Paramount’s bid still has the financial backing of a wealth fund run by three governments in the Persian Gulf, widely reported as Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
Paramount had previously revealed that it had made six acquisition approaches to Warner Bros. in 12 weeks, but claimed that Warner Bros. “never got meaningfully involved”.