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The war for the future of Warner Brothers continues, as Paramount Skydance on Monday announced a revised all-cash offer for the legacy film studio. The offer includes an “irrevocable personal guarantee” from a major backer, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, to provide tens of billions in equity financing for the deal. It’s the latest move by Ellison’s son, David Ellison — CEO of Paramount Skydance — to turn away a potential takeover from his rival, streaming giant Netflix.
“Larry Ellison has agreed to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of $40.4 billion in equity financing for the show and any damages claims against Paramount.” press release Published on Monday states. The proposed equity financing was previously included in Paramount’s offer, but the elder Ellison’s “personal guarantee” is new, the press release said.
The renewed offer comes just one week after WBD’s board of directors rejected Paramount’s initial offer, instead opting for an earlier deal with Netflix. That was the deal Announced on December 5shows how the streamer will buy the movie studio through a cash and stock option worth $27.75 per WBD share, valuing the total enterprise at $82.7 billion.
Three days after announcing the Netflix deal, Paramount launched a website $108.4 billion hostile bidoffering $30 per share. WBD Board He declined this offerHe called it “fictitious” and claimed that Paramount had misled shareholders about financing the proposed deal. At the time of the rejection, the board noted that the deal with Netflix was “a binding agreement with enforceable commitments, without the need for any equity financing and robust debt commitments.”
Now, Paramount’s revised offering is designed to “address WBD’s stated concerns regarding Paramount’s premium offering,” Paramount said. In October, CNBC I mentioned thatPrior to the Netflix deal, WBD had previously rejected three different takeover offers from Paramount.
“Paramount has demonstrated time and time again its commitment to acquiring WBD,” Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison said in Monday’s press release. “Our fully funded cash offer was $30 per share on December 4thyand remains the best choice to maximize value for WBD shareholders. Given our commitment to investment and growth, our acquisition will be superior to all WBD stakeholders, as a catalyst for more content production, increased theatrical production, and more consumer choice.
“We expect the WBD Board of Directors to take the necessary steps to secure this value-enhancing transaction and preserve and enhance this iconic Hollywood treasure for the future,” he added.
TechCrunch reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery to comment.