Larry Ellison gives $40.4 billion guarantee for Paramount's Warner Bros bid
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Dec 22 : Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has agreed to provide a personal guarantee of $40.4 billion in equity financing to back the all-cash bid by Paramount Skydance's bid for Warner Bros Discovery, a regulatory filing showed on Monday.
The guarantee is expected to bolster the deal financing terms, which was criticized by the board of Warner Bros while rejecting Paramount's bid in favor of Netflix.
Paramount said the amended terms do not change the $30-per-share all-cash offer. Warner Bros shares rose 2.5 per cent in premarket trading, while Paramount Skydance added nearly 1.6 per cent.
The bidding war for Hollywood's most prized assets shows no sign of ending soon as the winner will gain a big advantage in the streaming wars by locking up a deep content library that has long been the target of blockbuster deals.
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Larry Ellison also agreed not to revoke the Ellison family trust or transfer its assets during the pendency of the transaction.
Paramount said it raised its regulatory reverse termination fee to $5.8 billion from $5 billion to match the competing transaction. The company also extended the expiration date of its tender offer to Jan. 21, 2026.
The bid follows Warner Bros asking its shareholders to reject the $108.4 billion offer from Paramount for the whole company, including cable TV assets, on doubts over its financing and the lack of a full guarantee from the Ellison family.
But Warner Bros investors, including the fifth largest shareholder Harris Associates, have said they would be open to revised offers from Paramount if it presents a superior bid and addresses issues with deal terms.
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