Paramount stands by bid for Warner Bros. Discovery

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Paramount is staying the course on its $30-a-share bid for Warner Bros.Discovery, again appealing directly to shareholders.

The move comes after Warner Bros.Discovery’s board voted unanimously this week to reject Paramount’s revised bid, in which billionaire Larry Ellison agreed to personally guarantee the equity portion of his son’s firm’s financing package.

Paramount Skydance, in a Thursday statement, sidestepped Warner’s latest complaints about the enormous debt load that Paramount would need to pull off a takeover.Paramount instead said the appeal of its bid should be obvious: $30 a share in cash for all of Warner Bros.

Discovery, including its large portfolio of cable channels, including CNN, HGTV, TBS and Animal Planet.Warner board members have countered that Netflix’s $27.75 cash and stock bid for much of the company is superior because Netflix is a stronger company.Warner also has complained that it would have to incur billions in costs, including a $2.8-billion break-up fee, if it were to abandon the deal it signed with Netflix on Dec.

4.Hollywood Inc.

Warner’s board was not swayed by tech billionaire Larry Ellison’s personal guarantee to back the equity portion of Paramount’s bid.Warner’s board remains solidly behind its Netflix deal.The streaming giant has agreed to buy HBO, HBO Max and the Warner Bros.

film and television studios, leaving Warner to spin off its basic cable channels into a separate company later this year.The murky value of Warner’s cable channel portfolio has become a bone of contention in the company’s sale.“Our offer clearly provides WBD investors greater value and a more certain, expedited path to completion,” Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison said in Thursday’s statement.Paramount said it had resolved all the concerns that Warner had raised last month, “most notably by providing an irrevocable personal ...