Oracle tech tycoon Larry Ellison is offering a US$40.4 billion personal guarantee to back Paramount’s hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery, deepening a bidding war with Netflix, a statement said on Monday.
The amended proposal, worth a total US$108 billion from the company run by Ellison’s son David, addresses concerns raised by Warner Bros’ board, which saw the Paramount bid as too risky and asked shareholders to accept a competing buyout offer from Netflix.
Netflix shocked the industry on December 5, by announcing it had sealed an agreement to buy the film and television studio and HBO Max streaming business for nearly US$83 billion, the entertainment industry’s biggest consolidation deal this decade.
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Three days later, Paramount – whose CEO is David Ellison, son of Larry Ellison, an ally of US President Donald Trump – launched an all-cash tender offer valuing the entertainment giant at US$108.4 billion.
But Warner Bros last week described the Paramount offer as risky, saying it was backed by “an unknown and opaque revocable trust” and involved “no Ellison family commitment of any kind”.
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Warner Bros Discovery also stressed the dependence of the Paramount offer on foreign investors – US$24 billion of the financing comes from Middle East sovereign wealth funds – which could require further government approval.