Congressional Democrats say Paramount's bid for Warner raises 'serious national security concerns'
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Congressional Democrats are sounding alarms over the deep involvement of Saudi Arabian and other Middle Eastern royal families in Paramount’s proposed bid for Warner Bros.Discovery.Warner Bros.
Discovery owns CNN, HBO and the historic Warner Bros.film and television studios in Burbank, behind such beloved American classics as “Casablanca,” “Citizen Kane” and Bugs Bunny, and blockbuster hits including “Harry Potter,” “Dirty Harry,” “The Matrix” and “Friends.”Late last week, the Larry Ellison-controlled Paramount came up short in the bidding for Warner Bros., in part, over the Warner board’s concerns about Paramount’s deal financing.
On Monday, Paramount launched a hostile takeover of Warner Bros., appealing directly to Warner shareholders — asking them to sell their stock to Paramount for $30 a share.On Wednesday, Paramount sent a letter to Warner shareholders asking that they tender their shares, which would allow Paramount to gain the company through its hostile takeover.In the letter to Warner shareholders, Paramount’s Chairman David Ellison wrote: “Our public offer ...
delivers superior value and a faster, more certain path to completion than the transaction announced with Netflix.”It added that Paramount’s offer would be “financed by $41 billion of new equity backstopped by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital and $54 billion of debt commitments from Bank of America, Citi and Apollo.” It did not disclose that the sovereign wealth funds were the majority of the new equity.Paramount’s gambit has thrown the auction, and the Warner board’s selection of Netflix’s $72-billion deal, into doubt.
Hollywood Inc.Tech mogul Larry Ellison made a bold move to acquire Warner Bros.
Discovery, but lost out to Netflix, setting the stage for a legal fight that could shape the future of Hollywood.Paramount has long insisted that it represe...