Warner Bros. Discovery gives Paramount one week to present its ‘best and final’ offer

Netflix says the ‘foreign funding’ behind Paramount’s bid is raising ‘national security concerns.’

Netflix says the ‘foreign funding’ behind Paramount’s bid is raising ‘national security concerns.’

After rejecting Paramount’s latest acquisition bid, Warner Bros. Discovery says it’s giving the David Ellison-led entertainment giant seven days to make its “best and final” proposal. Though WBD is reopening negotiations with Paramount, the company makes it clear in a press release that it still favors Netflix’s $82.7 billion deal to purchase its studio and streaming service.

As noted in the press release, a Paramount representative told WBD that it would agree to pay $31 per share if WBD reopens negotiations, adding that this isn’t Paramount’s “best and final proposal.” Paramount has been upping its bid to purchase the entirety of WBD for weeks now, offering to cover the $2.8 billion termination fee WBD would have to pay if it abandons its deal with Netflix.

Netflix says it granted WBD a seven-day waiver to engage with Paramount to “fully resolve” the bidding war. It adds that the “foreign funding behind PSKY’s bid is already raising serious national security concerns.” Netflix’s press release cites Rep. Sam Liccardo’s (D-CA) recent letter to Paramount, which questions the Middle Eastern partners backing its deal, such as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

WBD shareholders will vote on the merger with Netflix on March 20th.

“We continue to believe the Netflix merger is in the best interests of WBD shareholders due to the tremendous value it provides, our clear path to achieve regulatory approval and the transaction’s protections for shareholders against downside risk,” Samuel Di Piazza, Jr., the chair of WBD’s board of directors, says in the press release.

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