Mideast funds back Paramount's $108B Warner Bros. takeover bid
Netflix appeared to have won a weeks-long bidding war with Paramount and Comcast, securing a $72 billion equity deal for Warner Bros. Discovery's TV, film studios and streaming assets, but Monday's $108 billion bid changes the calculus.
Three Middle Eastern government-tied funds, as well as Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, are among the investors bankrolling Paramount Skydance Corporation’s bid to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc (WBD).
What happened: Netflix, Inc. announced on Friday it had secured a $72 billion equity deal for WBD's TV, film studios and streaming assets, seemingly winning a weeks-long bidding war with Paramount Skydance and Comcast.
A regulatory filing on Monday revealed the list of financial partners supporting Paramount Skydance’s hostile, all-cash $108 billion takeover bid — a move to acquire the company without management’s consent, typically by offering to buy shares directly from investors.
The filing shows that several of these backers are Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, highlighting the Gulf’s expanding role in major global media acquisitions. It also names Affinity Partners — US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner’s investment firm, heavily funded by Gulf capital — as one of the financiers supporting the offer.
