During the past weeks, Warner Bros Discovery has rejected Paramount Skydance's bid of approximately 20 dollars – roughly 190 kronor – per share. This is according to sources who want to remain anonymous since the matter is "private".
Paramount still has alternatives to make the deal happen. According to Bloomberg's sources, the company can, among other things, choose to raise its bid, address the shareholders directly, or seek additional financial support from an external partner.
Paramount is the parent company of the large film company and streaming service with the same name – as well as the TV channels CBS, Nickelodeon, and MTV. David Ellison, son of billionaire Larry Ellison, took over Paramount in August after completing a merger with his own production company Skydance Media.
At the same time, Warner Bros Discovery is preparing to divide its operations into two parts – one focused on cable TV and the other on streaming and film companies. The latter part would then avoid being weighed down by the cable TV channels' debts, according to Warner Bros Discovery's CEO David Zaslav, as reported by Bloomberg.
For the deal with Paramount Skydance to materialize, David Ellison must therefore convince Zaslav that a sale would not mean that Warner Bros Discovery would miss out on future profits.
