Paramount Strikes Back With Hostile Bid for Warner Bros.

Not so fast, Netflix. Paramount on Monday launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, reports the Wall Street Journal. The move comes only days after Warner struck a $72 billion deal to sell key assets to Netflix. By taking its bid directly to shareholders, Paramount is bypassing Warner's management and setting the stage for a high-profile contest over some of the most valuable properties in entertainment. Paramount is offering to buy not just the movie studio and HBO Max but cable channels including CNN, notes the New York Times. The Netflix deal doesn't include the cable channels.

The Netflix deal amounts to about $28 a share, and Paramount is offering an all-cash deal of $30 a share. The pitch by the company run by David Ellison warns shareholders that they are "pursuing an inferior proposal," adding that Paramount's offer is more likely to clear regulatory hurdles than the one from Netflix. (President Trump warned Sunday that Netflix has a "big market share," which "could be a problem.")

"We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood," said Ellison in a statement. "It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers, and the movie theater industry."