Paramount extends deadline on hostile Warner Bros bid to February 20

Jan 22 (Reuters) – Paramount Skydance on Thursday extended the deadline on its hostile tender offer for Warner Bros Discovery to February 20, giving it more time to persuade investors that its bid for the Hollywood studio trumps a rival deal with Netflix. With DC Comics, iconic franchises from "Friends" to "Batman" and the HBO Max streaming service at stake, a successful deal would change the power dynamics of Hollywood and could help power growth at its suitor for years to come. Netflix on Tuesday revised its $82.7 billion offer to go all-cash in hopes of expediting the deal closure and providing greater financial certainty to investors worried about its previously stock-and-cash deal. It is now paying all the $27.75 a share bid in cash for the streaming and studio assets of the David Zaslav-led company, an offer that was unanimously approved by the Warner Bros board. Paramount has launched a charm offensive and sued Warner Bros to bring the HBO owner to the negotiation table. But Warner Bros has suggested that Paramount needs to raise its $108.4 billion, or $30-per-share, offer for the whole company to restart deal talks. Warner Bros' board earlier this month rejected an amended Paramount bid that included a $40 billion in equity personally guaranteed by Oracle's co-founder and Paramount CEO David Ellison's father, Larry Ellison. The deadline for Paramount's offer was originally January 21. The race is expected to come to a head at a shareholder vote expected to be held by April as Warner investors weigh the value of cable assets that Paramount argues are worthless. Warner Bros has said that its advisers used three separate approaches for valuing Discovery Global – the spinoff company that would include the cable assets. The lowest share price they arrived at was $1.33 per share, by applying a single value across the whole company. The high end of the range was a price of $6.86 a share, if the spinoff became involved in a future deal. Paramount has repeatedly said that its offer is superior to Netflix's deal and has a clearer path towards regulatory approval. The Ellisons have argued their relationship with President Donald Trump gives them an easier regulatory path to approval. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on a post-earnings call on Tuesday that the company has made progress towards securing the necessary regulatory approvals.  Netflix expects the addition of HBO Max would allow it to offer more personalized and flexible subscription options to better meet the needs of its diverse global audience. It also sees the theatrical business as a new revenue stream. But some analysts argue the deal would create near-term uncertainty around integration costs, content spending and the large debt load of the combined company. (Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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