Paramount renews its bid for Warner Bros, securing $40 billion in support for Larry Ellison

The war for the future of Warner Brothers continues, as Paramount Skydance announced a modified all-cash offer for the former movie studio on Monday. The offer includes an “irrevocable personal guarantee” from a major backer, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, to provide tens of billions of dollars in equity for the transaction. It’s the latest move by Ellison’s son David Ellison – the CEO of Paramount Skydance – to wrest the potential acquisition away from rival streaming giant Netflix.

“Larry Ellison has agreed to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of $40.4 billion from the equity financing for the offering and any claim for damages against Paramount,” Paramount said. press release published monday states. The proposed equity financing had already been included in Paramount’s offer, but the elder Ellison’s “personal guarantee” is new, the press release said.

The revamped offer comes just a week after WBD’s board rejected Paramount’s initial offer, instead favoring an earlier deal with Netflix. This agreement was announced on December 5outlining how the streamer would purchase the movie studio via a cash and stock option valued at $27.75 per WBD share and a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion.

Three days after announcing the deal with Netflix, Paramount launched a hostile offer valued at $108.4 billionoffering $30 per share. The WBD Board of Directors rejected this offercalling it “illusory” and claiming that Paramount had misled shareholders about the financing of the proposed deal. At the time of the rejection, the board noted that the deal with Netflix was “a binding agreement with enforceable commitments, without the need for equity financing or robust debt commitments.”

Now, Paramount’s amended offer was designed to “address concerns expressed by WBD regarding Paramount’s superior offer,” Paramount said. In October, CNBC reported thatPrior to the Netflix deal, WBD had already rejected three different buyout offers from Paramount.

“Paramount has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to acquiring WBD,” David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, said in Monday’s press release. “Our all-cash funded offering of $30 per share occurred on December 4 and continues to be the superior option for maximizing value for WBD shareholders. Because of our commitment to investment and growth, our acquisition will be superior for all WBD stakeholders, as a catalyst for greater content production, greater film production and greater choice for consumers.”

He added, “We expect the WBD Board of Directors to take the necessary steps to secure this value-add transaction and preserve and strengthen an iconic Hollywood treasure for the future.” »

TechCrunch contacted Warner Bros. Discovery for comments.