Apple is among the potential buyers, but David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance is viewed as the frontrunner to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Analysts and experts highlight the tech heir’s substantial financial resources and strong Washington connections as key advantages in what could become the media industry’s largest merger in years.
Fresh from closing the Paramount-Skydance deal in August, the emerging media powerhouse is now targeting one of Hollywood’s crown jewels—home to HBO, Warner Bros. Studios, and a streaming platform boasting over 120 million subscribers.
Apple is presumably interested in Warner Bros’ vast film and TV library, along with HBO’s myriad lauded series, to bolster its growing, high-quality Apple TV library.
Reuters:
His $60 billion approach was rejected by Warner Bros Discovery on Tuesday, Reuters first reported. But the company has put a for-sale sign and attracted other potential suitors including Comcast, Netflix, and Apple, according to media reports.
At $30 a share – the price Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich estimates Warner Bros Discovery could fetch in a sale – the company would be valued at about $74 billion, a figure analysts say could deter some bidders but remains within reach for Ellison, whose father Larry Ellison is the world’s second-richest person with a net worth of about $330 billion.
Apple had $36.3 billion in cash at June-end and could easily raise debt to fund a takeover but it has historically avoided large deals – its biggest remains the $3 billion Beats purchase.
Netflix holds about $9.3 billion in cash and has never done a deal exceeding $1 billion, while Comcast’s $9.7 billion cash pile means any bid would likely rely heavily on debt or outside partners.
David Ellison also enjoys a unique advantage over rival bidders – his father’s close ties with U.S. President Donald Trump. Larry Ellison has long been a Republican mega-donor and one of the few high-profile tech executives who were openly supportive of Trump before last November’s election.
“If anyone does buy the whole thing, or even split it into two and buy the two bits, it’s going to have to have the blessing of the current U.S. administration,” said Clea Bourne, Head of Subject of Strategic Communications and Journalism at the Goldsmiths, University of London. “And that’s where the Ellisons stand out very easily, because their cart is very close to the administration.”
MacDailyNews Take: The chance of Apple doing a deal like this is roughly 0%.
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