Netflix weighs amending deal with Warner Bros to make it all cash bid

By Josh Sisco, Lucas Shaw and Michelle F Davis

 

Netflix Inc. is working on revised terms for its Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. acquisition and has discussed making an all-cash offer for the company’s studios and streaming businesses, people familiar with the discussions said. 

The changes are designed to expedite a sale that will take months to close and has faced opposition both from politicians and rival bidder Paramount Skydance Corp. Institutional investors have been divided in their support. 

Under the original agreement, Warner Bros. shareholders were to receive $23.25 in cash and $4.50 in Netflix common stock, with certain adjustments in place if shares of the streaming giant fall below $97.91. Since the company’s pursuit of Warner Bros. began in October, Netflix shares have lost about a quarter of their value. They traded as low as $89.07 Tuesday in New York.

 

 

Netflix lined up $59 billion of financing from Wall Street banks to help support its acquisition, in the form of one of the largest ever bridge loans. They’ve already refinanced about $25 billion of that with some longer-term debt.

 

Netflix has the financial capacity to borrow more and still maintain its “robust” credit ratings, Stephen Flynn, a senior credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said in a research note on Tuesday. 

 

“Netflix has a very strong balance sheet with modest net leverage,” he said.

 

After choosing Netflix in early December, Warner Bros. has faced repeated efforts by Paramount to scuttle that deal and accept its offer.

 

Paramount Chief Executive Officer David Ellison and his father, Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison, have launched a tender offer for Warner shares, extended a personal guarantee to $40.4 billion of funding and sued Warner Bros. for more details about their valuation of the Netflix transaction. 

 

They also plan to nominate directors to the board to thwart the deal.

 

Warner Bros. rose 1.6 per cent to $28.86 at the close in New York following the news of Netflix’s deliberations. Shares of Netflix rose 1 per cent to $90.32