WBD Acquisition Thread

[JulianRO]

Still AMC remains probably the best option for CN. For Nick, I don't care.

 

[awinger24]

Well, the EU is going to approve it before July. Rest in peace, Warners. Ellison is going to win and they make sure they only prioritize the Rush Hour and Apprentice universes.

Doomsday is closer next month. Life’s not worth it anymore if this merger closes. I’ll go offline forever until I die once PSKY owns WB forever.

 

[JulianRO]

AMC would surely make CN's schedule more variate, as how Minimax and JimJam have. But until then, it's a long story.

 

[idk_1141]

Well, the EU is going to approve it before July. Rest in peace, Warners. Ellison is going to win and they make sure they only prioritize the Rush Hour and Apprentice universes.

Doomsday is closer next month. Life’s not worth it anymore if this merger closes. I’ll go offline forever until I die once PSKY owns WB forever.

It's not the end of the world.

 

[awinger24]

It's not the end of the world.

I rather disconnect if the Ellisons have their way. They’ll only worship one person like he’s their Messiah. Ellison can’t run PSKY for a global market.

 

[LinusFan303]

They can sell the land (the channels) but not the buildings (the programming) they would still have the same power just faking they are doing something to make one of the weakest media regulators in the world look they did something and like the regulators were tough. When the only thing that should be done is just say no to the total deal.

 

[RandomMe]

In my opinion, Discovery was never a good fit to merge with WB. Considering who also came to the "throne" of the combined company.

And to me, Discovery had long since devolved from educational documentaries to reality.

And it caused a stir back in the day in Italy when DMAX became a success. It taught Italians to speak in a calque influenced by English calques. "Hey amico!"

 

[Mandouga]

Maybe what Paramount should do is spinoff all of "Paramount Media Networks", formerly known as:

WASEC (as in "Warner-Amex* Satellite Entertainment Company)

*As in "American Express", the credit card company

MTV Networks

Viacom Media Networks, and...

ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks

Oh, and BTW, some of that "land" also includes some of the "buildings". After all, while Nickelodeon didn't make a lot of original shows, it's still been a thing since they launched on April 1st, 1979 (a certain show with puppets set in a certain house was the very first one). Oh, and one of those "buildings" does include a certain Canadian show where their trademark slime came from, especially since they eventually became co-producers of the show (and "you oughta know" which show I mean; "she" was on that show once).

I still oppose the merger in any case, and these lawsuits appear to be the first step in the merger actually being blocked, and saving both the Warner Bros. studio and the legacy...

 

[J10]

EU approving before July?! No, I don't think so.

The reports said Paramount want to sell some of their kids assets, if any concerns in Europe about having many assets would happened, so that EU will approve it. Still, we need to wait for the antitrust responses, regarding the news and also kids channels.

 

[Elijah Abrams]

The article Bloomberg made clearly stated that Paramount would be open to selling their kids channels in Europe in order to secure EU approval, and they haven’t gotten WBD's kids channels in Europe yet, so that puts them in a tough bind to keep Nick, which they still want to have.

 

[TVArchive]

I wonder what will happen to Central Asia (the CIS). Will the CIS inherit the EU changes, since they depends on the European office, or will the CIS move under the control of the Asian office, and Paramount will keep ownership of the 2 channels in this region?

 

[zakawer2]

I wonder what will happen to Central Asia (the CIS). Will the CIS inherit the EU changes, since they depends on the European office, or will the CIS move under the control of the Asian office, and Paramount will keep ownership of the 2 channels in this region?

As far as I am concerned, Nickelodeon does not have separate management teams for the Asia-Pacific region (outside of India, which is managed by a different company altogether, and Australia, where Paramount has a free-to-air TV channel called Nickelodeon). It's all managed from continental Europe (Dutch management team, Czech broadcast license, British playout).

Cartoon Network on the other hand has clearly separated EMEA and Asia-Pacific management teams in practice.

 

[lowell]

I remember doing this sometime ago and being told that it was impossible and now Bloomberg is singing the same tune so to speak. Nickelodeon Could Be Up For Sale As Paramount And Warner Bros. Discovery Await Approval From European Regulators

Paramount Open to Selling Kids Channels to Quell EU Fears Over $110 Billion Warner Deal

(Bloomberg) -- Paramount Skydance Corp. is prepared — if necessary — to divest some children’s TV network assets to help win European Union approval of its $110 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.Most Read from BloombergTrump Says He, Not Congress, Is in Charge of Kennedy Center in...

uk.finance.yahoo.com

There's another aspect that's barely mentioned at all:

"While most eyes are on the EU’s traditional merger review, Paramount’s purchase must also survive the bloc’s recently adopted Foreign Subsidies Regulation. The law is aimed at preventing firms bankrolled by sovereign states — such as petrol-rich Gulf nations and China — from distorting fair competition in the 27-nation EU.

A trio of Middle East funds agreed to provide about $24 billion of equity finance to help bankroll Paramount’s bid. This includes Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, and the lesser-known Abu Dhabi firm L’Imad Holding Co.

The sovereign funds would receive newly issued non-voting Class B shares of Paramount, meaning they will have limited governance influence over the combined entity — something that could play in the deal’s favor as part of the upcoming probe.

The funds are overseen by wealthy Gulf states that have long supplied large amounts of capital to global buyout firms. One example is Apollo Global Management Inc., which is among firms providing multi-billion dollar financing for the Paramount offer. Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co. has a long-standing relationship with Apollo, and the PIF’s venture arm has invested in funds run by the US firm.

People familiar with the matter said Paramount’s formal notification to the EU under the FSR rules is imminent, but that no serious risks are foreseen.

Should the commission take a different view, it could eventually open a full-scale probe, with Paramount potentially having to issue remedies to offset any concerns."

I get needing to talk about the headline but there's usually a lot more to delve into with lengthy informative articles like this one.

It's not the end of the world.

Yup, anyone jumping conclusions immediately don't really make sense here and even the Ellisons can't entirely predict what happens in the future.

I'm not betting everything on any single scenario, whether it's states or other regulatory agencies taking legal action, the U.S.'s regional conflict escalation, and/or the AI stock bubble's popping bring domino effects, because nothing is a 100% lock here.

But there's definitely some possibility that the financing could entirely collapse right in the midst of the pursuit:

"In addition, Bedoya said a challenge to the merger could come in the form of a lawsuit from a private citizen or labor union, legislation, a European Union review of the transaction or funding from Middle Eastern ventures falling through amid the war in Iran."

Emotions Spill Over at Town Hall of Industry Workers Opposed to Paramount-WBD Merger: “It’s the Death of a Great American Industry”

Writers, actors, crew members and small business owners expressed their opposition to the $111 billion transaction in Beverly Hills on Saturday: “It may be the final domino that knocks everything down.”

www.hollywoodreporter.com

As for why the U.S.'s own tensions with allies in the regional conflict could even lead to those Middle East wealth funds pulling out their contributions at any moment:

"But analysts said the threat also illustrated Trump’s frustration at the failure of his administration to force Iran to reopen the vital waterway and ease the global energy crisis caused by its closure, leading him to redirect his ire on to regional allies.

“In his quest to find and announce any strategic gain from the Iran war, Trump is putting pressure on countries that, in his view, owe him, such as Saudi Arabia, or complicate his efforts, such as Oman,” said Emile Hokayem at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Hokayem characterised Trump’s view as: “If Iran can’t give him a win, then the Gulf states should. It speaks to his own frustration with the whole situation and demonstrates how oblivious he can be to their own interests.

Now Trump’s outbursts risk fuelling broader Gulf wariness about US policy unpredictability, a long-running theme that has been exacerbated during the president’s second term and is expected to cause some to hedge their dependence on Washington by deepening other relationships, he added.

“It reinforces their concerns about Trump that, on the one hand, he can be won over, but it doesn’t mean he stays won over,” Alterman said. “There’s some unpredictability that the president sees as giving him leverage, but in the long term pushes countries to hedge and diversify.”

Kristin Diwan, at the Arab Gulf States Institute, said even if there was “some unease with” Oman’s stance, “none of the Gulf states want to see one of their partners being threatened with bombing”.

“They know that they need the US for their security, but they also know . . . they can’t rely on the US anymore,” she said.

Bader al-Saif, a Kuwaiti academic, also noted how Oman was far from the first Gulf state to face Trump’s abrasive style of diplomacy.

Trump singled out Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a speech in March at a Saudi-hosted investment conference in Miami. After initially praising the kingdom’s leader, the US president said: “he [Prince Mohammed] didn’t think he’d be kissing my ass.”

He later mocked Kuwait for mistakenly shooting down three US jets in March.

Yet Gulf states, including Oman, have responded to such outbursts with diplomatic silence.“

This is his unfortunate style,” al-Saif said of Trump. “We can’t allow him to drag us into his way of operations — it’s not how we respond. We’re not in a boxing match.”"

https://www.ft.com/content/a25ad28c-f360-4331-a18e-f93b0da6c372

Considering how the Middle East funds were saying that they wanted to review their overseas investments, including the U.S. ones, the admin weakening long-term relationships with allies as part of its foreign policy could instigate the financial pull-outs.

 

[zakawer2]

If the Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds were to completely pull out of providing any equity financing for Paramount's acquisition of WBD (which isn't entirely impossible, given what's still happening in that region, and given that countries behind those wealth funds are of course their own fully independent nations with their own priorities and interests, which are not necessarily in line with those of the United States or even the current administration in Washington), it would make the buyout somewhat easier to approve overall and reduce some of the backlash this merger has been receiving from some people of the kind that's entirely out of the scope of this website.

But it wouldn't remove the other potential legitimate issues with the merger either.

 

[JulianRO]

PSKY + WBD combined will be a lot worse than WBD itself....

 

[lowell]

If the Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds were to completely pull out of providing any equity financing for Paramount's acquisition of WBD (which isn't entirely impossible, given what's still happening in that region, and given that countries behind those wealth funds are of course their own fully independent nations with their own priorities and interests, which are not necessarily in line with those of the United States or even the current administration in Washington), it would make the buyout somewhat easier to approve overall and reduce some of the backlash this merger has been receiving from some people of the kind that's entirely out of the scope of this website.

But it wouldn't remove the other potential legitimate issues with the merger either.

I would point out that David Ellison continued to seal in the Middle East funding to justify paying his highest bid for WarnerDiscovery. If they pull out their contributions, that would require his father Larry to throw more of his own money to replace it.

There's an signed equity guarantee to backstop that but a possible popping of the AI stock bubble could also subsequently have OpenAI drag down Oracle at the same time.

Larry would rather prop up his beloved Oracle over the startup vanity projects that are Skydance or Annapurna here.

If the Oracle scenario happens first, the Middle East funds could still pull out. They could choose any reasoning to pull out.

But even though legal actions from states or other regulatory agencies, wealth funds pull out, or Oracle dragged into a painful roller coaster aren't 100% locks here, we should be noting that if the financing sources for the pursuit completely collapse, David's powerless to do or buy anything he wants.

I mostly bring in the conflict when there's connective ties here and there. Eroding relationship with allies can absolutely push them to pull their investments out of the country.

Even Zaslav isn't convinced by all of David Ellison's words on the timeline, that $7B breakup fee and the ticking fees were what was needed to get sign in from him, Malone, and the board directors.

If there were no sweeteners or increases on Ellison's bid, it hardly makes sense for investors to go along.

PSKY + WBD combined will be a lot worse than WBD itself....

You just have to look at Ellison's and his Skydance lieutenants' incompetency in their management so far, with CBS News being a major blunder.

People might have faulted Bob Bakish for some issues but at least he worked his way up through Paramount Global over decades.

David Ellison has never managed a big and major company at all before the Redstone sale and could easily drag the place down to rock bottom for foolish reasons, with or without the WarnerDiscovery pursuit existing (no normal executive would threaten proxy fight because while they claim they're rich, the Ellisons are literal cheapskates and want to lowball companies' value to nab them on the cheap).

 

[JulianRO]

And with about $80 billion in debt from both combined companies, then Zaslav was a complete joke in the last 4 years......

 

[themidnightlore]

Yeah, you're really certain that when the AI bubble pops, Larry Ellison doesn't try his best to save Oracle? (As Skydance and co. are more of whims that his son has, no?)

 

[lowell]

And with about $80 billion in debt from both combined companies, then Zaslav was a complete joke in the last 4 years......

Zaslav was in the middle of HBO Max's international expansion and whittling down the debt over time with Wiedenfels, then Ellison pounces in with unsolicited bids, putting it on the auction block earlier than expected.

Yeah, you're really certain that when the AI bubble pops, Larry Ellison doesn't try his best to save Oracle? (As Skydance and co. are more of whims that his son has, no?)

Yup, Oracle's the one that made Larry's fortune. Skydance & Annapurna were just ventures that he had to pay for because he wasn't there for David's & Megan's childhoods.

It wouldn't make financial sense for Larry to prop up the latter ones, who've needed funding lifelines over the years from him, because the former has been generating cash for him over decades.

He's not making that same mistake again with their younger siblings' upbringings.

 

[JulianRO]

Yeah, you're really certain that when the AI bubble pops, Larry Ellison doesn't try his best to save Oracle? (As Skydance and co. are more of whims that his son has, no?)

Obviously, and if needed, they can sell WBD again and forget about it. After all, Larry doesn't want to drag both PSKY-WBD and Oracle into the trash bin.