奈飞拒绝匹配派拉蒙对华纳兄弟探索的收购要约
Netflix declines to match Paramount offer for Warner Bros Discovery
奈飞已放弃其收购华纳兄弟探索的计划，拒绝提高其对这家媒体集团旗下历史悠久的 Hollywood 工作室和流媒体业务的收购报价，此前奈飞认为派拉蒙 Skydance 提出的更优厚的竞争性报价“更具优势”。周四的一份声明中甚至
奈飞已退出其收购华纳兄弟探索公司的计划，在认定派拉蒙天舞传媒提出的更优厚的竞争性收购要约“更具优势”后，奈飞拒绝提高其对这家媒体集团旗下历史悠久的荷里活制片厂和流媒体业务的收购报价。奈飞联席首席执行官泰德·萨兰多斯和格雷格·彼得斯在周四晚间的一份声明中表示，“按照与派拉蒙天舞传媒最新报价相匹配的价格，这笔交易不再具有财务吸引力”。在其修改后的报价中，派拉蒙为该公司开出了每股31美元的价格，高于之前的30美元，如果合并未获批准，将支付70亿美元的监管终止费，以及从9月之后开始，每季度约6.5亿美元的“计时费”。奈飞有四个工作日的时间来击败派拉蒙修改后的报价——但很快决定不这样做。“我们相信，我们本可以成为华纳兄弟标志性品牌的强大管理者，我们的交易本可以加强娱乐行业，并在美国保留和创造更多的制作岗位，”萨兰多斯和彼得斯在声明中表示。“但这项交易始终是‘锦上添花’，以合适的价格进行，而不是‘必须拥有’，不惜任何代价。”
华纳兄弟探索公司总裁兼首席执行官大卫·扎斯拉夫周四晚间发表声明，称奈飞是“一家伟大的公司”，并赞扬了其领导层。“我们祝愿他们未来一切顺利，”他说。奈飞不愿意修改其对华纳兄弟探索公司制片厂和流媒体资产的827亿美元报价，这意味着拥有派拉蒙天舞传媒的埃里森家族预计将收购该公司的全部股份，包括有线新闻网络CNN。“一旦我们的董事会投票通过派拉蒙合并协议，它将为我们的股东创造巨大的价值，”扎斯拉夫说。“我们对派拉蒙天舞传媒和华纳兄弟探索公司合并的潜力感到兴奋，并迫不及待地开始共同讲述感动世界的故事。”
派拉蒙首席执行官大卫·埃里森周四早些时候发表声明称，该公司“很高兴WBD董事会一致确认了我们报价的卓越价值，该报价为WBD股东提供了卓越的价值、确定性和快速完成交易”。针对潜在的派拉蒙天舞传媒-华纳兄弟合并，美国参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦告诉《卫报》，这是一场“反垄断灾难，威胁着美国民众更高的价格和更少的选择”。她继续说道：“特朗普政府官员今天在白宫告诉奈飞首席执行官什么了？少数与特朗普结盟的亿万富翁正试图控制你所观看的内容，并向你收取他们想要的任何价格。由于腐败的阴云笼罩着特朗普的司法部，这将取决于美国人民站出来，以及各州总检察长来执行法律。”
华纳兄弟探索公司已宣布将于3月20日举行特别股东大会，就奈飞合并进行投票。奈飞宣布退出该交易之前，萨兰多斯在华盛顿与特朗普政府官员举行了会晤。预计该合并将受到严格的监管审查，包括司法部进行彻底审查，以确定其是否对娱乐行业的竞争构成威胁。萨兰多斯和彼得斯在声明中感谢华纳兄弟探索公司“运行了一个公平和严格的流程”。“我们谈判达成的交易本可以创造股东价值，并为获得监管批准提供明确的途径，”两位高管表示。“然而，我们一直是有纪律的，按照与派拉蒙天舞传媒最新报价相匹配的价格，这笔交易不再具有财务吸引力，因此我们拒绝匹配派拉蒙天舞传媒的报价。”
萨兰多斯和彼得斯表示：“我们将继续做我们作为一家上市公司20多年来所做的事情：让我们的会员感到高兴，盈利性地发展我们的业务，并推动股东的长期价值。” O
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Netflix has walked away from its planned takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, declining to raise its offer for the media conglomerate’s storied Hollywood studios and streaming business after it determined a sweetened rival offer from Paramount Skydance to be “superior”. In a statement on Thursday evening, Netflix co-chief executives Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said that “at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive”. In its revised offer, Paramount offered $31 per share for the company, up from $30, a $7bn regulatory termination fee if the merger is not approved, and a “ticking fee” amounting to about $650m in cash each quarter beginning after September. Netflix was given four business days to beat Paramount’s revised offer –
Netflix has walked away from its planned takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, declining to raise its offer for the media conglomerate’s storied Hollywood studios and streaming business after it determined a sweetened rival offer from Paramount Skydance to be “superior”. In a statement on Thursday evening, Netflix co-chief executives Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said that “at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive”. In its revised offer, Paramount offered $31 per share for the company, up from $30, a $7bn regulatory termination fee if the merger is not approved, and a “ticking fee” amounting to about $650m in cash each quarter beginning after September. Netflix was given four business days to beat Paramount’s revised offer – but quickly decided against doing so. “We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the US,” Sarandos and Peters said in their statement. “But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.” David Zaslav, the president and chief executiveof Warner Bros Discovery, released a statement Thursday evening calling Netflix “a great company” and praising its leadership. “We wish them well in the future,” he said. Netflix’s unwillingness to revise its $82.7bn offer for the studio and streaming assets of Warner Bros Discovery means that the Ellison family, which owns Paramount Skydance, are now expected to acquire the entirety of the company, including the cable news network CNN. “Once our board votes to adopt the Paramount merger agreement, it will create tremendous value for our shareholders,” Zaslav said. “We are excited about the potential of a combined Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery and can’t wait to get started working together telling the stories that move the world.” David Ellison, the chief executive of Paramount, had released a statement earlier on Thursday saying the company was “pleased WBD’s board has unanimously affirmed the superior value of our offer, which delivers to WBD shareholders superior value, certainty and speed to closing”. In response to the potential Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros merger, the US senator Elizabeth Warren told the Guardian it was “an antitrust disaster threatening higher prices and fewer choices for American families”. She continued: “What did Trump officials tell the Netflix CEO today at the White House? A handful of Trump-aligned billionaires are trying to seize control of what you watch and charge you whatever price they want. With the cloud of corruption looming over Trump’s Department of Justice, it’ll be up to the American people to speak up and state attorneys general to enforce the law.” Warner Bros Discovery had announced a 20 March special meeting for shareholders to vote on the Netflix merger. Netflix’s announcement that it is backing away from the deal comes after Sarandos held meetings in Washington with Trump administration officials. The merger was expected to receive close regulatory scrutiny, including a thorough review by the Department of Justice to determine whether it posed a threat to competition in the entertainment industry. In their statement, Sarandos and Peters thanked Warner Bros Discovery “for running a fair and rigorous process”. “The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” the executives said. “However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.” Sarandos and Peters said: “We will continue to do what we’ve done for more than 20 years as a public company: delight our members, profitably grow our business, and drive long-term shareholder value.” Officials in the White House have long preferred the bid from Paramount, considering that the Ellison family has a friendly relationship with the president. Warner Bros Discovery shareholders will still have to approve Paramount’s merger with the company, though as the only remaining bidder that might only be a formality.