Netflix’s bid to acquire Warner Bros. Studios (and by proxy, Warner Bros. Games) is facing hostile competition from media juggernaut Paramount—and according to a new report in Axios, Paramount is being backed by members of the investment group acquiring Electronic Arts, which includes President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Since Warner Bros. put it up for sale, the now David Ellison-led Paramount has been jockeying to scoop up the studio that owns CNN, DC, and huge film franchises like The Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter, and Wicked. Netflix and Comcast were the two other major bidders, and last week Netflix seemed to win the race.
But Paramount, in an unusual move, protested the process and rallied over the weekend to launch a hostile takeover, offering a $108 billion deal at $30 per stock, slightly ahead of Netflix’s $82.7 billion deal. It is also attempting to purchase all of Warner Bros. Discovery, not just the Warner Bros. studio assets.
Axios unearthed a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that showed the Kushner-owned Affinity Partners, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), and investing groups representing Abu Dhabi and Qatar are backing Paramount’s offer. The PIF and Affinity Partners are both among the joint group of investors purchasing Electronic Arts.
These new partners have agreed to “forgo any governance rights—including board representation—associated with their non-voting equity investments.
A media acquisition (again) becomes deeply political
Interestingly, Chinese corporate conglomerate Tencent—itself a huge player in the video game industry—had apparently been a previous financial partner in its offer to Warner Bros. Discovery investors.
As with the EA acquisition, Kushner’s involvement brings the gravity of national politics to the world of entertainment and media. But Paramount’s bid was already deeply political in nature. Its previous merger with Ellison’s company Skydance followed a number of political concessions to the Federal Communications Commission and a $16 million settlement payment for President Trump, who sued the company over a “deceptively-edited” CBS interview.
In a battle of the billionaires fighting over streaming platforms, content libraries, and news organizations, it’s fair to say Warner Bros. Games is a lower-priority asset being bandied about between investors. But the reappearance of two parties involved in the purchase of EA is a humbling reminder that these corporate megapowers can upheave the lives of thousands of game development professionals with just a few days and a truckload of financial paperwork.
