Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Warner Bros. Discovery's board of directors urged shareholders on Wednesday to reject the hostile takeover by Paramount Skydance.
The board said in a press release that it preferred the merger deal it had reached with Netflix over Paramount's hostile bid amid a bidding war between the two companies.
"This offer once again fails to address key concerns that we have consistently communicated to Paramount throughout our extensive engagement and review of their six previous proposals," said Samuel A. Di Piazza Jr., chair of the Warner Bros. Discovery board of directors. "We are confident that our merger with Netflix represents superior, more certain value for our shareholders, and we look forward to delivering on the compelling benefits of our combination."
The board sent a letter to its shareholders on Wednesday telling them why it believed the Paramount deal is a bad choice in comparison to Netflix's bid, with an enterprise value of about $82.7 billion.
"Our agreement with Netflix gives WBD shareholders $23.25 in cash, plus $4.50 in shares of Netflix common stock (based on a collar range of $97.91-$119.67 in the Netflix stock price at the time of closing), plus the additional value of the shares of Discovery Global and the opportunity to participate in future potential upside following Discovery Global's separation from WBD. The entire Board is confident in our recommendation that Netflix represents the best value-creating path for shareholders," the letter said.
