A new report in The Wall Street Journal indicates that the newly flush with cash Paramount is exploring a majority cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
The bid is said to be backed by the Ellison family, including Skydance Media owner David Ellison and his father, Oracle Corporation co-founder Larry Ellison, who is currently the wealthiest person in the world ($393 billion).
Warner Bros. Discovery announced last year that it was planning to restructure itself into two operating divisions, one focusing on legacy cable TV and one focusing on movies and streaming.
The bid is reportedly for the entire company, not just the new movie/streaming spin-off. Warner Bros. Pictures currently has a market cap of $33 billion – double that of Paramount Skydance.
The paper advises that no official deal has been offered and hasn’t made any real progress yet. Even then, such a deal could be hit by potential antitrust issues.
That said, unlike when it purchased CBS owner Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery does not hold any broadcast licenses and so would not need FCC clearance.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said yesterday that the separation of Warner Bros. and Discovery Global into the two new companies is on track for April next year.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
