Warner Bros. picks Netflix offer over Paramount buyout, but not a done deal yet

The Hollywood corporate battle over who will control entertainment giant Warner Bros Discovery is seemingly headed for resolution.

Warner rejected a hostile takeover bid by Paramount Skydance, launched last week in response to an offer from Netflix to acquire parts of the business.

The board said Paramount’s offer of over $108 billion failed to provide adequate financing assurances and urged its shareholders to reject the takeover bid.

The offer from Netflix to acquire Warner's film and streaming businesses amounted to around $72 billion

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The storied Hollywood movie studio said the deal with Netflix was in its best interests.

As the BBC reports, Paramount could still come back with another offer, meaning the takeover saga gripping Hollywood isn't over yet.

It all seems to rest on the financial support in the Paramount Skydance deal and the fact that Larry Ellison - chairperson of software company Oracle Corporation, and father of Paramount CEO David Ellison are not providing full 100% surety against the offer price of $108 billion, comments TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod.

"It seems that the Netflix offer according to the Warner Bros board seems more stable, and they're worried that if they pursued the Paramount deal that might not happen if there's a problem with one of the funders, if I understand it correctly."

McLeod also notes the political and regulatory angle to all of this, with Warner owning news media company CNN, and the Ellisons being supporters of US President Donald Trump's Republican Party.

"We've heard a lot from Trump that indicates he's very interested in the face of CNN and who's hands it ends up in. He may want to see it in the hands of allies, hoping perhaps that its stance becomes less liberal and more conservative."

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