Jared Kushner pulls out of hostile bid for Warner Bros
NEW YORK
A private equity firm owned by President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is no longer backing Paramount’s hostile acquisition bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, the firm confirmed.
Days after Warner agreed to be bought by Netflix in early December, Paramount launched a rival bid that seeks to bypass Warner's management and appeal directly to its shareholders with more money. Paramount is offering $30 per Warner share to Netflix’s $27.75.
In its appeal to shareholders, Paramount argued its offer may be more likely to pass regulatory scrutiny from the Trump administration.
The president has said the Warner and Netflix deal “could be a problem” due to the size of the combined market share.
Kushner's decision to pull his firm's financial backing takes away a possible Paramount advantage to win over Trump.
The amount Kushner's Affinity Partners was contributing to the offer was not disclosed in Paramount’s latest SEC filings.
“With two strong competitors vying to secure the future of this unique American asset, Affinity has decided no longer to pursue the opportunity,” the firm said in a statement.
Paramount’s bid is still backed by wealth funds run by three governments in the Persian Gulf, widely reported as Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
Paramount, which owns which owns CBS, MTV and the streaming service Paramount+, is newly headed by David Ellison, the son of a major Trump donor.