The Larry Ellison family wants to buy Warner Bros. Discovery to bulk up Paramount, the smallest of the major media companies, but the two sides haven’t yet agreed on a price.
Paramount, backed by billionaire Larry Ellison and his family, has officially opened the bidding for rival Warner Bros. Discovery — a potential massive merger that would dramatically change Hollywood.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s board rejected Paramount’s initial bid of about $20 a share, but talks are continuing, according to two people close to the companies who were not authorized to speak publicly.
One of the knowledgeable sources said Paramount was preparing a second bid.
Warner Bros. Discovery owns HBO, CNN, TBS, Food Network, HGTV and the prolific Warner Bros. movie and television studio in Burbank.
Ellison, one of the world’s richest men, is committed to helping his 42-year-old son, David, pull off the industry-reshaping acquisition and has agreed to help finance the bid, two people close to the situation said.
The younger Ellison, who entered the movie business 15 years ago by launching his Skydance Media production company, was catapulted into the major leagues this summer with the Ellison family’s purchase of Paramount’s controlling stake.
Since then, David Ellison and his team have made bold moves to help Paramount shake more than a decade of doldrums. Buying Warner Bros. Discovery would be their most audacious move yet. The merger would lead to the elimination of one of the original Hollywood film studios, and could see the consolidation of CNN with Paramount-owned CBS News.
Representatives for Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment.
CNBC reported Friday that two companies have been in discussions for weeks following last month’s news that Paramount was planning a bid. Bloomberg reported Saturday that Warner Bros. Discovery had rejected Paramount’s bid of about $20 a share.
Industry veterans were stunned by the speed of Paramount’s play for Warner Bros.
