Paramount CEO pens letter to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders
Paramount CEO pens letter to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders
David Ellison is holding nothing back in his company’s hostile takeover attempt of WBD.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has had to take up his pen quite a bit in recent weeks. Ellison is still after Warner Bros. Discovery, and is continuing efforts to convince the company’s shareholders that Paramount is the right buyer instead of Netflix. Ellison’s latest effort in that regard came in the form of an open letter to WBD investors, urging them to consider Paramount’s hostile takeover bid seriously.
Key Details:
- Checking in: Ellison’s letter came days after Paramount launched a hostile takeover bid of WBD.
- Clear No. 1?: The letter says that Paramount is the “best steward” for the assets now owned by WBD.
- Nothing new: The missive repeats arguments that Paramount is well financed, and that its offer will have an easier time with regulators.
The letter from Ellison comes just days after Paramount launched a hostile takeover bid for WBD’s assets. Paramount is currently pushing an all-cash offer worth $30 per share to WBD shareholders, insisting that the bid is superior in every way to the Netflix offer WBD’s board accepted last week.
The new letter from Ellison doesn’t really make any new arguments. It starts with a personal communication from Ellison, who says that his company is the “best steward” for the assets now owned by WBD. He also writes that he is “passionate and dedicated” to the acquisition, as evidenced by the fact that he is using his own money in the bid.
The letter goes on to lay out detailed arguments as to why Paramount’s offer is more financially sound than Netflix’s, and repeats the argument that Netflix will face more difficulty from regulators than Paramount would. There was nothing truly new in the argument, which at one point employs all capital letters to try to get its point across.
“IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO REALIZE THE BENEFITS OF PARAMOUNT’S PROPOSAL IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACT NOW AND TENDER YOUR SHARES,” Ellison writes.
This is not the first letter Paramount has sent to WBD in the process. A few days before Netflix’s bid was officially chosen as the winner, Paramount wrote to WBD complaining about the unfairness of the auction process, a communique prompted by increasing reports that WBD was close to picking Netflix’s offer.
Netflix has chosen to remain silent as Paramount fumes and frets about the possibility of losing out on WBD. The next few days could tell the tale of whether Paramount’s hostile takeover bid succeeds or fizzles out, and which company will prove ultimately successful in its pursuit of WBD.
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