The battle for WBD played out amid a pivotal backdrop for Wall Street: a period investment banks hope will mark a full-throated M&A rebound, in which just landing a role on a deal of this size is as useful for one's street cred as actually winning it. Even advisers on the losing side will walk away with hefty fees, boardroom credibility, and proof they belong on the biggest mandates of the coming year.
Hollywood is in trouble. The streaming boom that fueled a ton of production in the last decade-plus is gone, and lots of the remaining work is going overseas. No one really knows how AI will affect the movie and TV business, but there's lots of fear it won't be good. And barring something truly surprising, Warner Bros., one of Hollywood's most important movie and TV studios, is going to get swallowed up in the next year or so, which will mean even more consolidation.
WBD used pointed language, calling Paramount's bid the "largest leveraged buyout in history by a wide margin" and tying its potential failure to previous big LBOs that didn't close on the initially agreed-upon terms. In its new filing, WBD also described Paramount's financial condition as "not strong," noting that its credit was already rated "junk" by S&P before the "extraordinary amount of debt financing" required by the deal.
Team, As we begin the year, I want to share an update on where things stand and where we are focused. Following a thorough review, the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors has completed its consideration of Paramount Skydance's most recent proposal. After careful evaluation, the Board has determined not to pursue that proposal.
Warner Bros. Discovery board members delivered a blunt rejection of Paramount's revised hostile takeover bid on Wednesday, warning investors the offer was inadequate and still too risky. In a letter to shareholders on Wednesday, obtained and first reported by CNN, the WBD board rejected Paramount's revamped bid, insisting it falls well short of the certainty offered by its existing deal with Netflix. To effect the transaction, it intends to incur an extraordinary amount of incremental debt more than $50 billion through arrangements with multiple financing partners, the board wrote.
