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The war for the future of Warner Brothers continues, as Paramount Skydance announced Monday an amended all-cash offer for the legacy movie studio. The offer includes an \u201cirrevocable personal guarantee\u201d from a major backer, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, to provide tens of billions in equity financing for the deal. It\u2019s the latest move by Ellison\u2019s son, David Ellison\u2014the CEO of Paramount Skydance\u2014to pry the potential acquisition loose from his competition, the streaming giant Netflix. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLarry Ellison has agreed to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of\u00a0$40.4 billion of the equity financing for the offer and any damages claims against Paramount,\u201d a Paramount press release<\/a> published Monday states. The proposed equity financing had previously been included in Paramount\u2019s offer, but the elder Ellison\u2019s \u201cpersonal guarantee\u201d is new, the press release states. <\/p>\n The revamped offer comes a mere week after the WBD board rejected Paramount\u2019s initial bid, favoring, instead, a previous deal with Netflix. That deal was announced on December 5th<\/a>, outlining how the streamer would purchase the movie studio via a cash and stock option valued at $27.75 per WBD share, and a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion. <\/p>\n Three days after the Netflix deal was announced, Paramount launched a hostile bid valued at $108.4 billion<\/a>, offering $30 per share. The WBD board rejected this offer<\/a>, calling it \u201cillusory\u201d and claiming that Paramount had misled shareholders about the proposed deal\u2019s financing. At the time of the rejection, the board noted that the deal with Netflix was \u201ca binding agreement with enforceable commitments, with no need for any equity financing and robust debt commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, Paramount\u2019s amended offer has been designed to \u201caddress WBD\u2019s stated concerns regarding\u00a0Paramount\u2019s superior offer,\u201d Paramount said. In October, CNBC reported that<\/a>, prior to the Netflix deal, WBD had previously rejected three different takeover offers from Paramount. <\/p>\n \u201cParamount has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to acquiring WBD,\u201d said Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, in Monday\u2019s press release. \u201cOur\u00a0$30 per share, fully financed all-cash offer was on\u00a0December 4th<\/sup>, and continues to be, the superior option to maximize value for WBD shareholders.\u00a0Because of our commitment to investment and growth, our acquisition will be superior for all WBD stakeholders, as a catalyst for greater content production, greater theatrical output, and more consumer choice.\u201d <\/p>\n He added: \u201cWe expect the board of directors of WBD to take the necessary steps to secure this value-enhancing transaction and preserve and strengthen an iconic\u00a0Hollywood\u00a0treasure for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n TechCrunch reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery for comment. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n