A hostile takeover bid for media giant Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has ratcheted up with entertainment conglomerate Paramount taking legal action to force the release of financial data.
Paramount Skydance, which owns film production company Paramount Pictures and TV network CBS, has filed a law suit seeking to compel WBD to disclose to shareholders how it values the bid and a competing offer from Netflix.
It has also threatened to nominate directors at WBD’s annual meeting in an effort to get board approval for its takeover.
Paramount’s bid was hostile as it involved a direct approach to WBD’s shareholders. The board had already agreed a $82.7bn (£61.4bn) deal with Netflix in early December to sell its TV studios and rights to top franchises, including Harry Potter and Game of Thrones.
Warner Bros Discovery’s board had unanimously recommended shareholders accept Netflix’s proposal to buy the streaming portion of WBD’s business and reject Paramount Skydance’s offer.
David Ellison, Paramount Skydance’s chairman, chief executive and the son of multibillionaire Larry Ellison, said his company was seeking the release of information on how WBD valued multiple elements of streaming behemoth Netflix’s rival takeover attempt, Paramount Skydance’s own offer and part of WBD’s own valuation.
It’s customary for such disclosures to be made when a board makes an investment recommendation, an open letter to WBD shareholders read.
The streaming wing of WBD’s business was already being spun off into a separate company consisting of entities such as the TV network HBO and its streaming service HBO Max, along with Warner Bros’ TV and film production units and comic book filmmakers DC Studios.
But Mr Ellison said Paramount Skydance would propose a change to WBD bylaws, necessitating shareholder approval before spinning off the streaming portion, potentially placing hurdles on the sell-off process.
Other parts of WBD include the news channel CNN and sports…
