Paramount to sue Warner Bros for info on Netflix deal

(Sharecast News) - Paramount Skydance on Monday filed a lawsuit seeking more information from Warner Bros Discovery and said it planned to nominate directors to the company's board as it ramped up the pressure on the media and entertainment firm as part of its hostile takeover offer.

Paramount chief executive David Ellison on Monday said the suit was filed in the Delaware Chancery Court asking the court "to simply direct WBD to provide this information so that WBD shareholders have what they need to be able to make an informed decision as to whether to tender their shares into our offer".

Paramount is locked in a battle with Netflix for control of the movie studio and streaming business. It's $108bn offer was rejected last month, with Warner calling it inadequate and questioning the company's ability to finance the deal

Warner's board continues to back Netflix's $83bn offer after last month agreeing to sell its streaming and studio business.

"WBD has provided increasingly novel reasons for avoiding a transaction with Paramount, but what it has ‌never ‌said, because it cannot, is that the Netflix transaction is financially superior to our actual offer," Paramount wrote in a letter to Warner Bros shareholders.

"Unless the WBD board of directors decides to exercise its right to engage with us under the Netflix merger agreement, this will likely come down ⁠to your vote at ⁠a shareholder meeting."

Paramount also said it plans to nominate ‌directors to the Warner Bros board.

The proposed deal was the result of a sale process in which Paramount was bidding for all of WBD's assets, including its portfolio of cable TV channels, known as Discovery Global. As part of the Netflix deal Warner Bros plans to separate Discovery Global into its own publicly traded entity.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com