Paramount Calls Out The Fairness Of The Warner Bros. Sale Process
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Warner Bros. Discovery is up for sale with several interested parties. The second round of bidding has occurred, with Paramount, Netflix, and Comcast raising the stakes for their respective bids. Specific details of the bids are unavailable at this time, although they are considered binding. One party has noticed alleged favoritism in the proceedings thus far, and they are calling it out. In a letter to the WBD board, Paramount reportedly questioned what it perceived to be a biased set of proceedings.
The letter calls out the alleged favoritism, stating (via The Hollywood Reporter), “Several U.S. media outlets have reported on the enthusiasm by WBD management for a transaction with Netflix, and on statements by management that a transaction between WBD and Netflix would be a ‘slam dunk,’ while also referring to Paramount’s bid in a negative light.” The letter continued, highlighting the perceptions from the bidding table, “Additional reporting since the submission of revised bids on December 1 has indicated that WBD’s board has really warmed to’ a transaction with Netflix due to the ‘chemistry between’ WBD management and Netflix management.”
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A managerial problem was called out as the underlying cause of the alleged issues: “Paramount has a credible basis to believe that the sales process has been tainted by management conflicts, including certain members of management’s potential personal interests in post-transaction roles.” Lawyers of WBD responded in a statement attempting to assuage the tension, “Please be assured that the WBD Board attends to its fiduciary obligations with the utmost care, and that they have fully and robustly complied with them and will continue to do so.”
Paramount, Netflix, and Comcast are the main contenders in the bid for WBD. The former is looking to acquire the company as a whole, while the latter two are primarily focused on the streaming and studios portion of the company. Prior to the official bidding process, Paramount reportedly put in three offers to purchase the entertainment company that were rejected. Assets owned by WBD and are up for sale include HBO, HBO Max, production studios, and DC. Should no deal be considered satisfactory enough, WBD plans to split back into two separate entities for easier selling.
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