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- Paramount Skydance got outbid by Netflix for Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming and studio assets.
- David Ellison's company has now launched a hostile bid for the WBD.
- The Netflix-Warner Bros. mega-merger is the largest in years and would upend Hollywood.
Paramount Skydance isn't ready to give up the fight for Warner Bros. Discovery.
The David Ellison-run company just launched at $30 offer for all of WBD, even though Netflix agreed to buy WBD's streaming and studio assets last week.
"Paramount's strategically and financially compelling offer to WBD shareholders provides a superior alternative to the Netflix transaction," Paramount said in a statement on Monday morning.
Netflix's offer to buy Warner Bros. and HBO "offers inferior and uncertain value and exposes WBD shareholders to a protracted multi-jurisdictional regulatory clearance process with an uncertain outcome along with a complex and volatile mix of equity and cash," the Paramount statement continued.
Even before Paramount's hostile bid, the Netflix-Warner Bros. tie-up wasn't a lock, as it needs approval from regulators in the US and abroad.
"The Warner Bros Discovery acquisition is far from over," said Ross Benes, a senior analyst at EMARKETER, Business Insider's sister company. "Netflix is in the driver's seat but there will be twists and turns before the finish line. Paramount will appeal to shareholders, regulators, and politicians to try to stymie Netflix. The battle could become prolonged."
Paramount's lawyers sent a letter saying that "WBD appears to have abandoned the semblance and reality of a fair transaction process," CNBC reported on Thursday. That was the first sign that Ellison and company would make a pitch to WBD shareholders directly.
Warner Bros. Discovery owns the Warner Bros. film studio, HBO, HBO Max, and TV networks like CNN, TNT, and TruTV.
Paramount Skydance controls film studio Paramount Pictures, streamers Paramount+ and Pluto TV, broadcast network CBS, and cable channels like Comedy Central and MTV.
This story will be updated.
