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Paramount Sues Warner Bros. Over Secretive $83B Netflix Deal Details

Paramount Skydance has filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery in Delaware Chancery Court, demanding it disclose financial details of its $83 billion agreement with Netflix. Paramount CEO David Ellison alleges WBD has failed to explain how it valued assets or the basis for rejecting Paramount's $30 per share all-cash offer. The legal action aims to provide WBD shareholders with the information needed to decide on Paramount's tender offer. This follows Warner Bros.'s December deal to sell its TV and movie studios to Netflix, with a completion target after a planned spin-off in 2026.

Key Points: Paramount Sues Warner Bros. Over Netflix Deal Secrecy

  • Lawsuit seeks financial disclosure
  • Paramount made $30/share cash offer
  • Deal would spin off Discovery Global in 2026
  • Paramount threatens proxy fight
2 min read

Paramount Skydance sues Warner Bros. Discovery over Netflix deal

Paramount Skydance sues Warner Bros. Discovery, demanding financial disclosure of its $83 billion Netflix agreement to inform shareholders.

"WBD has failed to include any disclosure about how it valued the Global Networks stub equity - David Ellison"

Los Angeles, January 12

Paramount Skydance has sued Warner Bros. Discovery, seeking to disclose financial details of WBD's USD 83 billion deal with streaming giant Netflix.

As per Variety, David Ellison's Paramount on Monday also announced plans to nominate its own slate of directors "who, in accordance with their fiduciary duties, will exercise WBD's right under the Netflix Agreement to engage on Paramount's offer and enter into a transaction with Paramount."

"WBD has failed to include any disclosure about how it valued the Global Networks stub equity, how it valued the overall Netflix transaction, how the purchase price reduction for debt works in the Netflix transaction, or even what the basis is for its 'risk adjustment' of our USD 30 per share all-cash offer," Paramount chairman and CEO David Ellison wrote in an open letter to WBD shareholders.

Paramount on Monday filed suit in Delaware Chancery Court to ask the court "to simply direct WBD to provide this information so that WBD shareholders have what they need to be able to make an informed decision as to whether to tender their shares into our offer," Ellison wrote.

This comes a month after Warner Bros. struck a deal with Netflix in December to have the streamer acquire its TV and movie studios for USD 83 billion.

Ahead of Warner Bros. Discovery's 2026 shareholder meeting, Paramount will propose an amendment to WBD's bylaws to require WBD shareholder approval for "any separation of Global Networks." If WBD calls a special meeting ahead of its annual meeting to vote on the Netflix agreement, Paramount "will solicit proxies against such approval," according to David Ellison's open letter.

Under Netflix's agreement with WBD, the streaming giant would pay $27.75/share for Warner Bros.'s films and TV studios businesses, HBO and HBO Max, and games division. That transaction would be completed after WBD's spin-off of Discovery Global in the third quarter of 2026, which is set to include CNN, TBS, HGTV, Food Network, and Discovery+, according to Variety.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

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Sarah B
$83 billion is an insane amount of money! 💸 It's more than the GDP of some small countries. While the lawsuit seems like corporate drama, the core issue is shareholder rights. Every investor, whether in Mumbai or New York, deserves to know how their company's assets are being valued.
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Ananya R
As someone who watches both Netflix and HBO Max, I'm curious how this will affect content. Will we get more Indian originals if Netflix takes over? Or will it just mean more consolidation and less choice? The fate of shows matters to us viewers too!
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Vikram M
This is a classic case of a hostile takeover attempt dressed up as shareholder advocacy. Paramount's $30/share offer might seem good, but they filed the suit in Delaware for a reason—it's friendly to such tactics. WBD should have been more transparent from the start, though. Both sides playing games.
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Karthik V
The spin-off plan for Discovery Global in 2026 including CNN and Food Network is the real story. That's a massive restructuring. If I were a shareholder, I'd want to know exactly what I'm left holding after Netflix takes the crown jewels (HBO, studios). Paramount's lawsuit, while aggressive, forces that conversation.
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Michael C
Respectfully, I think the article and Paramount are focusing too much on the process and not enough on the end result for consumers. Will this deal lead to better, more diverse content for the global audience, including here in India? Or just higher subscription prices? That's what matters most.

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