Warner Bros. Discovery board likely to reject Paramount Skydance’s $108 billion bid

Warner Bros. Discovery’s board is expected to decide as early as Wednesday on a $108.4 billion takeover bid from Paramount Skydance and is likely to recommend that shareholders vote against the offer, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Reuters and Bloomberg.

The board continues to view the streaming platform’s buyout proposal as the preferred option, after reviewing Paramount Skydance’s all-cash bid. The board may formally advise shareholders to reject the Paramount offer when it files its response to the tender offer.

The streaming giant earlier this month agreed to a $27 billion cash-and-stock deal for Warner Bros. Discovery’s non-cable assets. Paramount Skydance followed with a higher, $30-a-share all-cash bid for the entire company, led by Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison.

In regulatory filings, Paramount has said its offer is superior to Netflix’s and would face fewer regulatory hurdles. The bid is backed by $41 billion in new equity from the Ellison family and RedBird Capital, along with $54 billion in debt commitments from Bank of America, Citi and Apollo.

Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, which had been part of Paramount’s financing group, has exited the bid.

The contest centers on control of Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and television studio and its extensive content library, which includes titles such as Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Harry Potter and Friends, as well as the HBO and HBO Max streaming businesses.