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Feb 15 (Reuters) – Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) is considering reopening sale talks with rival Hollywood studio Paramount Skydance (PSKY) after receiving its \u200chostile suitor’s most recent amended offer, Bloomberg News reported on \u200cSunday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.<\/p>\n
Members of Warner Bros’ board are discussing \u200bwhether Paramount could offer the path to a superior deal, the Bloomberg report said, adding that the board has not decided how to respond and may stick to the current deal with Netflix (NFLX) .<\/p>\n
Reuters could not immediately \u200cverify the report. Paramount, Warner \u2060Bros and Netflix did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Paramount had enhanced its Warner Bros bid last week \u2060by offering shareholders extra cash for each quarter the deal fails to close after this year. It also agreed to cover the breakup fee \u200bthe HBO \u200bparent would owe Netflix if it \u200bwalked away, even though the \u200cCBS owner did not raise its per-share offer.<\/p>\n
Paramount said it has offered shareholders a 25-cent-per-share quarterly “ticking fee” (about $650 million) in cash starting in 2027 until closing and agreed to cover Warner Bros\u2019 $2.8 billion breakup fee to Netflix. However, it did not raise its $30-per-share offer, valuing the deal at $108.4 \u200cbillion including debt.<\/p>\n
Both Netflix and Paramount covet \u200bWarner Bros for its leading film and \u200btelevision studios, extensive content \u200blibrary and major franchises such as “Game of Thrones,” “Harry Potter” \u200cand DC Comics superheroes Batman and \u200bSuperman.<\/p>\n
Activist investor Ancora \u200bHoldings, which has built a nearly $200 million stake, last week said it plans to oppose the Netflix deal, arguing the board \u200bdid not sufficiently engage \u200cwith Paramount over its rival bid, which includes cable assets \u200blike CNN and TNT.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing \u200bby Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n