By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS and MICHELLE CHAPMAN undefined
Warner Bros. is again rejecting a takeover bid from Paramount and telling shareholders to stick with a rival offer from Netflix. Warner's leadership has repeatedly rebuffed Skydance-owned Paramount's overtures — and urged shareholders just weeks ago to support selling its streaming and studio business to Netflix for $72 billion. Paramount, meanwhile, has made efforts to sweeten its $77.9 billion hostile bid for the entire company. Warner Bros. Discovery said Wednesday that its board determined Paramount's offer isn't in the best interests of the company or its shareholders and doesn't meet the criteria of being a superior proposal. It still recommends shareholders support the Netflix deal.
By MICHELLE CHAPMAN and BERNARD CONDON AP Business Writers
Paramount has launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. The effort announced Monday initiates a potentially bruising battle with Netflix to buy the company behind HBO and CNN, along with the power to reshape much of the nation's entertainment landscape. Emerging just days after Netflix reached a $72 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros., the takeover attempt means Paramount will go straight to Warner shareholders with a bid worth about $74.4 billion, or $30 per share in cash. Unlike Netflix, Paramount is also offering to buy the cable television assets of Warner Bros.
By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS and MATT OTT AP Business Writers
Netflix has struck a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the Hollywood giant behind "Harry Potter" and HBO Max. The $72 billion deal announced Friday would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry. If approved by regulators, the merger would put two of the world's biggest streaming services under the same ownership — and join Warner's television and motion picture division, including DC Studios, with Netflix's vast library and its production arm, which has released popular titles such as "Stranger Things" and "Squid Game."
