David Zaslav desires a bidding struggle for his media conglomerate — and buyers say “deliver it on!”
Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery spiked 17% to $18.87 on Friday after The Publish reported that CEO Zaslav isn’t ready round for Paramount Skydance to formally verify a reported monster bid for the proprietor of Warner Bros. studios, HBO, TNT and CNN.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, as reported, is prepping an all-cash provide of $50 billion or extra.
Final week, nevertheless, Zaslav met with bankers at Goldman Sachs to probably store WBD to different media and tech outfits — together with Amazon, Apple and Netflix.
His purpose, The Publish has discovered, is to propel the inventory worth to $40 a share. If Zaslav can’t get what he’s asking from any suitors, a supply mentioned he plans to make use of his personal surging share worth to purchase extra content material.
Reps for WBD and Skydance had no remark.
Curiosity in WBD and its properties has been rising, a results of relaxed antitrust enforcement beneath the Trump administration.
As The Publish reported solely Thursday, media maven Jay Penske, who owns amongst different properties Selection, The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone and a stake in Vox Media, is claimed to have expressed curiosity in ratings-challenged CNN.
