It appears that Warner Brothers Discovery is still up for sale. According to Deadline, David Ellison (WondLa, The Family Plan 2)is allegedly saying that the process is unfair and WBD appears to be favoring Netflix. In a letter to WBD CEO, David Zaslav from David Ellison company it said, “It has become increasingly clear, through media reporting and otherwise , that WBD appears to have abandoned the semblance and reality of a fair transaction process, thereby abdicating its duties to stockholders, and embarked on a myopic process with a predetermined outcome that favors a single bidder. We specifically request and expect this letter will be shared and discussed with the full board of directors of WBD.”
Deadline also noted that WBD did respond to the letter, “Please be assured that the WBD board attends to its fiduciary obligations with the utmost care, and that they have fully and robustly complied with them and will continue to do so.”
Deadline also Reported that the sale of WBD kicked off last October, when Paramount, Netflix and Comcast all had offers on the table. The round two bids came in just last week. WBD opened up to other companies when Paramount Skydance had three consecutive offers to aquire WBD.
Deadline noted that Paramount allegedly accused WBD management of conflict of interest. Not naming any names, but Paramount offered Zasloav a role in the possible combined company. Paramount stated that their offer “Would proved the maximum value to WBD stockholders.”
Deadline reported that there has been lot of talks about the possible merger in the media. Rep. Darrell Issa (California) sent a letter to Washington DC concerning anti trust between Netflix-WBD deal. Also noted that a report from a German newspaper also stated that concerns about Ellison’s acquisition of WBD could also lead to excessive media concentration.