WBD Acquisition Thread

[Elijah Abrams]

It depends on financial performance from post-merger and if it don't go well, they will increase the space to be leased out.

It’s not looking good for Paramount pre-merger, from what I heard. The investors aren’t happy, hence the downgrade to "junk", and there’s the opposition. I wouldn’t be surprised if the merger doesn’t go through.

 

[Moe]

It’s not looking good for Paramount pre-merger, from what I heard. The investors aren’t happy, hence the downgrade to "junk", and there’s the opposition. I wouldn’t be surprised if the merger doesn’t go through.

Yeah, David Ellison is notorious for stubborn and reckless.

It is kinda like gambling on studios that could lead to ruins.

 

[LinusFan303]

Does David Ellison have a long-term contingency plan in case the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery fails, or Paramount is forced by regulators to make major concessions (e.g. divesting/spinning off assets, etc.)?

I've pointed out before that Ellison has never really ran a studio or majority company ever. SkyDance really doesn't count as that was him playing studio man for like19 years. So he probably never really had a plan for Paramount except I guess destroying CBS News or something. The past ownership, who also was terrible, kind of made a mess of Paramount so... maybe the end is near.

Maybe he cares for both but Oracle a bit much more? As @lowell says, if the AI bubble explodes, Oracle is in danger and I feel the older Ellison will rush to save that.

Oracle is the main family business so that's the main focus. Then again the elder shouldn't have encouraged his son to buy a major studio and help with a second one, and just let him still play pretend with SkyDance.

 

[lowell]

It can be possible but their plan is likely in closed door and it is not known.

Like others said, I believe that Ellison plan to keep Paramount if merger with WBD failed but Lowell said Larry Ellison could sell his investment in Paramount to Sony.

and WBD would complete the split soon after merger fails.

If they get that $7B breakup fee from Skydance and Zaslav still continues to pay down debt, that debt load could probably decrease down to an amount that negate any new split attempt.

Considering Zaslav, Malone, & the WarnerDiscovery board would hold another sales process later on anyway, there's a possibility they can just fold Discovery+ into HBO Max once most of its international expansion is done to bring down operational streaming costs.

And in the period before the sale to another suitor is completed, Zaslav would just whittle down the debt load even further.

I've pointed out before that Ellison has never really ran a studio or majority company ever. SkyDance really doesn't count as that was him playing studio man for like19 years. So he probably never really had a plan for Paramount except I guess destroying CBS News or something. The past ownership, who also was terrible, kind of made a mess of Paramount so... maybe the end is near.

Oracle is the main family business so that's the main focus. Then again the elder shouldn't have encouraged his son to buy a major studio and help with a second one, and just let him still play pretend with SkyDance.

Apparently, Ellison's suspicious of Jeff Shell leaking out information to the press and others, including stuff on WarnerDiscovery pursuit, so Shell could probably be pushed out:

"All that said, I’m told the Cipriani drama has exacerbated David’s own misgivings about Shell, which have grown stronger in recent months. Sources familiar with the two men’s relationship have told me that David no longer trusts Jeff, and suspects him of being involved in various leaks to the press and others during his time as president. Those same sources believe Jeff is unlikely to survive at Paramount past its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Paramount Skydance declined to comment on Jeff’s future there, though sources close to the company told me that any pronouncements on personnel decisions were premature. Matthew Hiltzik, the crisis comms guru that Paramount has enlisted to help Jeff manage the investigation, also declined to comment. Some of Jeff’s friends and defenders said insinuations about his future were being driven by detractors inside Paramount who were seeking to capitalize on the investigation. But even his supporters acknowledged that Shell is not universally beloved by his peers inside the company.

In truth, Jeff may have always been a temporary player. In acquiring Paramount, David needed a veteran media executive with oversight and operational experience, but that was always just the first step on the path toward true media moguldom. Now that he’s set to take over a combined Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery, there will presumably be many executives hoping to take leadership roles. “In retrospect,” one source close to the situation said, “I’m not sure Jeff was ever the long-term plan.”

https://puck.news/newsletter_content/shells-endgame-baris-morning-makeover/

David's one trick is to depend on Larry for WarnerDiscovery pursuit and has no actual vision for Paramount Global's future:

"Then again, what do the Ellisons care? “If one is rich enough to purchase a Hawaiian island, a second studio feels like a pittance,” a Hollywood producer who has worked with Ellison told me.

Practically overnight and pending regulatory approval, Ellison has gone from running Skydance, a production company with roughly 1,300 employees, to running two conglomerates with (for now) some 50,000 employees. He is also now one of a handful of people who will determine the future of the entertainment industry. “It feels like he’s a midshipman and he’s now in command of the Titanic — quite literally,” one Hollywood producer told me. “It’s not like you have clear skies and smooth seas. You’re heading into the most challenging era our business has ever experienced, and all of a sudden David got this thing he really wanted. And did he get there on merit or experience? No.”

But the perception shifted as the industry watched Ellison spend the past year leaning on his father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, and sucking up to the Trump administration in ways big and small. I spoke to one producer who recently heard from an in-demand filmmaker that they were so irked by Ellison’s behavior that there was no way they would work with Paramount now. “I’ve heard it from multiple people who are just like, ‘Life is too short to go over there,’” the producer said.

“But David is not that. I don’t think he has a vision — and I don’t mean a vision for what he wants the company to be but for what he wants the world to be.”

“I don’t think that David’s lying,” the executive said. “But I think it might be worse: He doesn’t know that he can’t do what he wants to do.”"

https://www.vulture.com/article/david-ellison-paramount-warner-bros-discovery-deal.html

 

[Elijah Abrams]

Democratic Senators Slam Trump Administration’s Inaction on Reviewing Paramount’s Warner Bros. Deal for National Security Risks Over Backing by Arab Wealth Funds

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) criticized the Trump administration for failing to initiate a national security review of Paramount Skydance's deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, a proposed $111 billion pact that is backed by billions of dollars from a trio...

variety.com

The Democratic Senators aren’t happy with Arab money being used in the merger.

 

[awinger24]

Pushback helps.

 

[PF9]

TV Land, a Paramount Skydance-owned network, currently has the cable rights to air MASH, which is owned by Disney through 20th Television. I've been wanting TBS to air the show for some time as well.

If this merger goes through, it will be possible for that to happen.

 

[Moe]

TV Land, a Paramount Skydance-owned network, currently has the cable rights to air MASH, which is owned by Disney through 20th Television. I've been wanting TBS to air the show for some time as well.

If this merger goes through, it will be possible for that to happen.

You can watch MASH on MeTV that is carried on most cable.

It is unlike for TBS to add retro shows back and their ship has sailed 25 years ago.

 

[Elijah Abrams]

Tencent is said to be back on Paramount-Warner deal with fresh funding.

Of course, this might surely raise regulatory concerns.

 

[harry580]

well, paramount dreams of getting Warner bros will be crushed, I hope we get more allginations about this merger that will put a end to paramount pursuit of Warner bros and Warner bros discovery can go with the planned split

 

[awinger24]

Jeff Shell's Paramount Future Imperiled By $150M Lawsuit

A lawsuit was filed against Jeff Shell. Shell disclosed that PSKY is overpaying to acquire WBD. This is alarming and I hope this will slowly allow the two parties to terminate the deal.

 

[RandomMe]

Tencent is said to be back on Paramount-Warner deal with fresh funding.

Of course, this might surely raise regulatory concerns.

Didn't Tencent eye a Hollywood company before? I know they're part owners of Epic Games

You can watch MASH on MeTV that is carried on most cable.

It is unlike for TBS to add retro shows back and their ship has sailed 25 years ago.

Who needs retro shows on TBS? MeTV is more profidable and has wide OTA coverage

 

[Moe]

Who needs retro shows on TBS? MeTV is more profidable and has wide OTA coverage

Yeah, when cable TV was new, TBS aired a lot of retro shows until early 2000s.

 

[awinger24]

The deal could also collapse likely because of an ongoing global conflict. PSKY is investing $24 billion from Saudi Arabia’s public investment firm.

Combine that with the junk status on PSKY’s debt, you really have a deal that won’t go through.

 

[JulianRO]

Combine that with the junk status on PSKY’s debt, you really have a deal that won’t go through.

I hope for the best that this deal will fail.

 

[awinger24]

Not before midterms. This deal is going to close in September 2026 if the Ellisons aren’t going to get sued.

 

[Moe]

Not before midterms. This deal is going to close in September 2026 if the Ellisons aren’t going to get sued.

September 2026 is not written on stone and it come from Ellison's overambitious.

There is no way for complicated deal to approve in less than one year and quit saying September 2026 as final date.

 

[JulianRO]

September 2026

That's the earliest possible term, it will surely take longer to be closed.

 

[awinger24]

PSKY is trading below $10 on the stocks. It’s going down. And I think this could potentially leave investors to vote no.

 

[John Pannozzi]

On the chance this merger is done, I have a few obvious or reasonable predictions after the deal is set:

Film studios merging. Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures are the main labels, with New Line Cinema/Miramax and DC Studios are secondary for lower budgeted/independent movies and superhero movies. Paramount Players, Republic Pictures, and Miramax is obsolete. Warner Bros. Pictures Animation absorbs Paramount Animation and Skydance Animation plus their Madrid unit.

beIN Media Group still owns 51% of Miramax, so I don't think Miramax will be dissolved or altered much as a result of this deal. Unless either Paramount/whatever the new company is or beIN chooses to sell their stake in Miramax.