"Warner Rejects Paramount Acquisition Offer, Citing Price as Too Low"

Paramount Considers Raising Its Offer
Public Proposal to Shareholders Also Under Review

Bloomberg reported on October 12 (local time) that Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN and other networks, has rejected the initial acquisition proposal from Paramount Skydance.

Reuters Yonhap News

Quoting multiple sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg stated that Warner indicated to Paramount that the proposed acquisition price of approximately $20 per share was too low and thus declined the offer.

In response, Paramount is reportedly considering raising the acquisition price, directly approaching and persuading major shareholders, and securing additional funds through financial partners.

Both Paramount and Warner declined to provide official comments on the Bloomberg report.

Previously, CNBC also reported that the two companies are in acquisition and sale negotiations but have differences over the price, and that Paramount may make the acquisition proposal public to shareholders in order to pressure Warner.

On October 10, Warner's stock closed at $17.10, giving it a market capitalization of $42.3 billion (approximately 60.7 trillion won). Paramount's market capitalization stands at about $18.6 billion, meaning Warner's corporate value is more than twice that of Paramount.

Paramount is led by David Ellison, the son of Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison, a giant in the technology industry. In August of this year, David Ellison acquired Paramount by merging his own film production company, Skydance Media, with Paramount in a deal worth about $8 billion.

Bloomberg reported that Paramount is in discussions with global asset manager Apollo Global Management to secure acquisition funds.

At the 'Screen Time Conference' hosted by Bloomberg recently, Ellison said he could not comment specifically on the attempt to acquire Warner, but stated that further consolidation is necessary within the industry.

Warner is currently undergoing an internal restructuring to separate its streaming and studio businesses from its traditional cable network operations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.