![]() We're offering a 2-week trial of WrapPRO for $1. If you’ve been wanting to check out our full coverage, now’s the time. Greetings!As I turned in on Sunday, I figured we would ease into the week with a recap of the Golden Globe awards and the bigger. Paramount, however, had different ideas. The company on Monday sued Warner Bros. Discovery to get more details about its decision to go with Netflix, and said it would nominate a slate of directors at WBD's next annual meeting who would switch over to the Paramount bid. The move represents a massive escalation in Paramount's hostile bid and places in squarely in a proxy war for the control of Warner Bros. Discovery. Looking back at Paramount's cool reaction to WBD's eighth rejection last week, and it's clear the company was buckling down in preparation for this latest turn in the increasingly convoluted M&A saga. If you're wondering where Paramount CEO David Ellison got the inspiration for this offensive, you can look to his father. Back in 2003, Larry Ellison's Oracle launched an unsolicited bid for enterprise software maker PeopleSoft, which had agreed to merge with J.D. Edwards, setting off a legal battle with multiple lawsuits— including the Justice Department suing to block the deal. Ellison ultimately prevailed, which might seem like a good precedent for David and his efforts to acquire Warner Bros. The key difference, however, is Netflix, a media and tech giant with enormous resources of its own and a vested interest in making Paramount go away. Given these dynamics, observers don't believe a lawsuit or proxy battle will move the needle as the Paramount offer stands. Even if Paramount's bid is marginally stronger than Netflix (and it's still debatable given their different makeup), many WBD shareholders are waiting on a sweeter bid. Paramount going the legal route suggests that higher bid may not come, and now shareholders face the prospect of the lawsuit dragging out even longer any semblance of a resolution or payout. Roger Cheng
With seemingly few options (aside from the one shareholders want), Paramount pulled the trigger on a lawsuit and intend to engage in a proxy battle...
To continue reading, subscribe now with a 2-week trial. |