Paramount Skydance boss David Ellison will be in attendance at Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. The news comes hours after his studio upped its bid for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery to $31 per share.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina posted on X Tuesday afternoon that Ellison will be his guest at Trump’s address.
Reps for Paramount Skydance did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
Warner Bros. Discovery said in a press release on Tuesday that the WBD board “had not made a determination” whether or not Paramount’s offer is “superior” to the deal currently in place with Netflix. If Paramount’s new bid is preferable, Netflix will “have four business days after such determination to negotiate with WBD and to propose any revisions to the Netflix transaction.”
Netflix’s deal is around $83 billion for just Warner Bros. studios and HBO Max. Paramount wants all of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its linear assets, for $112 billion. Since Netflix’s agreement is still in effect, the WBD board will continue to recommend the deal with the streaming giant, which will go to a shareholder vote on March 20.
Along with the increased purchasing power of $31 per share, Paramount’s latest offer also includes a ticking fee of 25 cents per quarter starting after Sept. 30, as well as a $7 billion breakup fee if the deal doesn’t clear regulatory scrutiny. Paramount also offered to pay the $2.8 billion fee for Warner Bros. if it terminates its merger with Netflix.
News of the new deal came at the end of a seven day negotaing window, during which Netflix allowed WBD to “seek clarity” on Paramount’s “best and final offer.”
variety.com
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