(Oct 30): Warner Bros Discovery Inc chief executive officer David Zaslav hosted a town hall meeting for employees on Wednesday and said the board would need a higher bid to justify a sale of the company, according to people who heard his comments.
Zaslav told the staff that the board had rejected three offers from Paramount Skydance Corp, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the remarks were private. Paramount’s latest offer, submitted earlier this month, was to acquire Warner Bros for US$23.50 per share, Bloomberg has reported.
In the meeting, Zaslav said Paramount CEO David Ellison had said of the two companies, “we can be great together”, according to one of the people. Other prospective bidders have said similar things, Zaslav said.
The town hall is the first time Zaslav’s addressed the company’s roughly 35,000 workers since Warner Bros announced last week it was exploring options including a sale of the company or parts of the business.
Last week, Zaslav spoke with more than 100 of his senior leaders, Bloomberg has reported. In that meeting, he said potential bidders included Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc.
Absent an attractive offer, the company could still continue with plans to separate its struggling cable-TV channels from the fast-growing studios and streaming business next year.
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