American film producer David Ellison arrives at the premiere of Paramount Pictures’ “Transformers: Rise of the Beast” in New York City on June 5, 2023.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images
paramount skydance On Monday, he secured the support of billionaire Larry Ellison in the revised proposal. warner bros discovery — Clear answers to questions posed by the WBD Board.
“Larry Ellison has agreed to provide $40.4 billion in equity financing for the offer and an irrevocable personal guarantee for damages against Paramount,” the company said in a news release.
Paramount said Ellison, the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison, also agreed not to cancel the Ellison Family Trust or improperly transfer assets during the pending transaction.
Paramount Skydance intends to counter the agreement with Warner Bros. with a hostile attempt to offer Warner Bros. Discovery $30 per share in all cash. Netflix.
Last week, Warner Bros. Discovery Chairman Samuel Di Piazza told CNBC’s David Faber that the board was concerned about the company’s alleged support for Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison in the bid.
“I wasn’t sure whether one of the richest people in the world would attend the closing ceremony,” Di Piazza said at the time. “Making deals is great, but closing deals is even better.”
WBD agreed earlier this month to sell its studio and streaming assets to Netflix in a deal worth about $83 billion on a corporate basis. Paramount wants to acquire the entirety of WBD, including its portfolio of television networks, and has said its offer would have an enterprise value of $108.4 billion.
Notably, Paramount did not increase its bid on Monday, reiterating its belief that the deal was good, but Paramount did increase its proposed reverse breakup fee to match Netflix’s offer.
“What we’ve done with this amendment is we’ve cleared away the obfuscation around this proposal,” Jerry Cardinal, founder and managing partner of Redbird Capital Partners, said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
RedBird is an investor in Paramount Skydance and has also committed to financing Paramount’s planned acquisition of WBD.
“As with the previous six bids, we are responding to their concerns,” Cardinale said.
Warner Bros. Discovery stock rose 4% and Paramount stock rose 3% in premarket trading Monday. Netflix’s stock price was flat.
