Paramount Skydance defends $78B takeover bid for WBD, claims CNN spinoff could be worthless

Paramount Skydance on Thursday staunchly defended its revised $78 billion bid to take over Warner Bros.Discovery after the company again rejected its offer in favor of one from Netflix.Paramount argued that Comcast’s flopped spinoff of its NBCUniversal cable assets this week into a new company called Versant – which includes CNBC and MS NOW, formerly MSNBC – should act as a cautionary tale, since Netflix’s deal hinges on spinning off WBD’s cable assets including CNN.If Discovery Global – Netflix’s proposed spin-off of WBD cable assets – trades the same way as Versant’s debut, it will be worthless, Paramount argued.Paramount also claimed it “cured every issue” that WBD raised with its initial offer in December, even adding a personal guarantee of $40.4 billion of equity financing from billionaire Larry Ellison, father of Paramount CEO David Ellison.“Our offer clearly provides WBD investors greater value and a more certain, expedited path to completion,” David Ellison said in a letter to shareholders on Thursday.“Throughout this process, we have worked hard for WBD shareholders and remain committed to engaging with them on the merits of our superior bid and advancing our ongoing regulatory review process.”In a press release on Wednesday, Netflix said it welcomed the “continued commitment” from WBD.

It did not respond to The Post’s request for further comment.Warner Bros.Discovery did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.Versant’s stock has been a flop since it debuted on Monday, with shares closing down 13% on its first day of trading.

Since then, the stock has plunged nearly 30%.Some investors have grown concerned that the same industry pressures tanking Versant will tank the value of the Netflix bid, The Post reported earlier this week.Paramount said Versant’s dismal debut “illustrates the challenged path ahead for Discovery Global.”It defended its financing of the deal, including $54 billion in...