Exclusive | Warner Bros. Discovery launches formal auction as it seeks bidding war for media giant: sources

Warner Bros.Discovery has launched a formal auction of the media giant, with bankers at JPMorgan and Allen & Co.

combing through expressions of interest from multiple suitors – including one from Paramount Skydance, The Post has learned.The owner of the Warner Bros.studio, HBO and CNN held a board meeting Thursday morning with bankers and advisers to discuss the process, sources said.

Prospective bidders have been sent non-disclosure agreements required to access WBD’s financials.Of particular interest to WBD is the question of how to deal with the most aggressive of the bidders – Paramount Skydance, the newly created media giant headed by CEO David Ellison, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.As reported by The Post, Ellison, the son of Oracle’s billionaire co-founder Larry Ellison, has been slowly ramping up pressure on Zaslav to sell.In recent weeks he has made three bids for the company, the last being a $23.50 share, $56 billion offer for WBD.In response, WBD CEO David Zaslav has rebuffed each offer as he angles for a high-stakes bidding war that could push the sale price well above $25 a share.

Zaslav is said to expect another bid shortly from Ellison – possibly a public or hostile bid – in the coming days. Meanwhile, as The Post first reported, Ellison on advice from his legal team and bankers isn’t expected to bid much beyond $25 a share for WBD – and he believes he’s got good reason for staying pat.Namely – he believes he’s got the backing of President Trump.His wager is that a combination of regulatory hurdles and personal animus from the commander in chief poses major roadblocks for a slew of rival bidders including Netflix, Amazon and media giant Comcast, which currently controls Trump-hating cable network MSNBC and the woke broadcaster NBC.A Comcast spokesman also declined to comment.

But people close to the company’s CEO Brian Roberts tell The Post that Trump could be persuaded to approve the deal gi...