Warner Bros. Discovery to re-open talks with Paramount
Warner Bros. Discovery to re-open talks with Paramount
Netflix has granted a seven-day waiver for the two sides to negotiate for one final round.
The greasy wheel does indeed get the oil most of the time, and Paramount Skydance has squeaked and sputtered enough to be granted yet another opportunity to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery. That’s according to a release from WBD on Tuesday, which said that Paramount will now have seven days to present another official bid for consideration, even though it still recommends shareholders vote for Netflix’s already accepted proposal.
Key Details:
- Take the week: Netflix has granted WBD a waiver to negotiate with Paramount Skydance for seven days.
- Unchanged opinion: The WBD board is still recommending shareholders vote for the Netflix deal.
- One month out: WBD has set a date of March 20 for a special shareholder meeting to vote on the bids.
As announced by WBD on Tuesday, Netflix has granted it a special waiver to reopen the negotiating window with Paramount Skydance for seven days. Paramount has already made several minor adjustments to its $30-per-share offer for WBD, but it’s possible that the price could be adjusted upward in the new negotiation period. CNBC reports a senior Paramount representative told a WBD board member that the offer would go up to $31 per share if negotiations were reopened.
WBD officially accepted an offer from Netflix to purchase its streaming and studio businesses back in December, leaving Paramount to protest that its superior offer had been ignored, and that Netflix’s agreement with WBD would never get past government regulators.
A date of March 20 has also been set for a special meeting of WBD shareholders to vote on the transaction. Tuesday’s press release stated flatly that WBD’s board continues to unanimously support the Netflix proposal, despite the restart of talks with Paramount. In its own statement, Netflix said the setting of that date was an “important milestone” in the WBD sale process.
“While we are confident that our transaction provides superior value and certainty, we recognize the ongoing distraction for WBD stockholders and the broader entertainment industry caused by PSKY’s antics,” Netflix said. “Accordingly, we granted WBD a narrow seven-day waiver of certain obligations under our merger agreement to allow them to engage with PSKY to fully and finally resolve this matter.”
That confident tone suggests that Netflix either doubts Paramount’s ability to meaningfully answer all questions WBD shareholders have, or that it can outbid whatever Paramount puts on the table. The public at large can only watch and wait until March 20, when WBD shareholders will make their thoughts known for the record by voting for the deal they prefer.
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