Netflix Tuesday officially made its $83 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and HBO Max streaming business an all-cash offer, a move that could reshape a high-stakes takeover battle with Paramount.
Netflix’s move would simplify the transaction and could appeal to shareholders who have been weighing the competing offers.
“Today’s revised merger agreement brings us even closer to combining two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world,” Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav said in a statement.
Paramount has made a hostile all-cash bid valued at $77.9 billion for Warner Bros. and has accused the company of failing to meaningfully engage with its proposal.
Last week, Paramount escalated the fight by announcing plans to launch a proxy contest for seats on Warner’s board and by filing a lawsuit seeking more information about Warner’s deal with Netflix.
“Along with the WBD shareholders, we have asked for the customary financial disclosure a board is supposed to provide shareholders when making an investment recommendation,” Paramount CEO David Ellison wrote in a letter sent to Warner shareholders.
Ellison said those details are necessary for shareholders to make an informed decision and that Delaware law requires they be disclosed, adding that Paramount filed a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court seeking a court order compelling Warner to provide the information.
The WBD board has voted unanimously to reject Paramount’s latest purchase offer, which would include a takeover of the entire company.
Netflix’s offer is to purchase WBD but not all of its cable channels. Warner is planning to spin off its cable channels into a separate company.