ED MORRISSEY: Hold the Phones and Pass the Popcorn: Ellison Launches Hostile Bid for Warner, CNN.
This morning, Ellison’s Paramount launched a hostile takeover offer for Warner Discovery, going directly to the shareholders with a better share price bid. Ellison also wants all of Warner Discovery:
Paramount, run by David Ellison, is arguing that its all-cash $30 a share offer for all of Warner, owner of networks such as CNN, TBS and HGTV as well as the HBO Max streaming service, is a better deal for shareholders and more likely to pass regulatory muster. Paramount said its offer “provides shareholders $18 billion more in cash than the Netflix consideration.”
The offer, “provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion,” Ellison said in a statement.
Netflix agreed to pay $72 billion, or $27.75 a share, for Warner’s studio and HBO Max streaming business after the entertainment company splits itself in two, in a cash-and-stock deal the companies announced Friday.
That’s not the only consideration that WBD shareholders will have to consider. Any acquisition of WBD will raise regulatory concerns and will have to pass muster with the FTC. Donald Trump warned last night that he planned to take a role in the approval process, although he praised Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos as well:
President Trump says he would have a role in whether a proposed merger between Netflix and Warner Brothers should go forward, telling reporters the market share of a combined entity could raise concerns https://t.co/bIqw9EKC72 pic.twitter.com/F4bw7d6TUp
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 8, 2025
Axios notes that “Affinity Partners, the private equity firm led by Jared Kushner, is part of Paramount’s hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery, according to a regulatory filing…Paramount is telling WBD shareholders that it has a smoother path to regulatory approval than does Netflix, and Kushner’s involvement only strengthens that case.”
Stay tuned.