Warner Bros. Discovery shares slid early Friday in premarket trading after a report from the New York Post said that Paramount Skydance could walk away from its $30-per-share cash bid and instead litigate against the company's board for how it handled the process.

Hollywood

Paramount Skydance, backed by David Ellison, is maintaining pressure on Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to finalize an acquisition deal, even as Warner Bros. shares declined following reports that Paramount might abandon its bid and consider litigation. While legal action has been hinted at, recent developments indicate that negotiations are ongoing, with significant financial concessions and backstops provided by Larry Ellison.

The takeover process has been marked by heightened drama and competitive bidding, with Warner Bros. executives seeking higher offers. Paramount's current bid stands at $30 per share, but may need to rise to $32–$33 per share to cover a $2.8 billion breakup fee and provide additional incentives for Warner Bros. to proceed with the deal.

Ellison, Paramount Put Pressure on WBD for a Deal

It is time now to look at media and specifically the Warner Brothers deal in the making. Shares of Warner Brothers down about 1.4 percent now slipping after a report Paramount Skydance could walk away from its bid and instead litigate against the company's board. But is it really going to is David Ellison really going to give up like that. Bloomberg's Chris Palmieri joins us now. Chris it seems unlikely that Ellison will go without some kind of a fight or at least an answer right. For sure. Yeah. We're you know the idea of the litigation is something they've been hinting at for a while even before this latest hostile offer. They had the law firm Quinn Emanuel big litigators send a letter saying they're really unhappy with how this Warner Brothers sale process is inducted. But we're told that not that's that's an arrow in the quiver. But nothing is happening imminently along the litigation front. In fact if you look at what happened earlier this week when they made all those concessions to Warner Brothers and they had Larry Ellison backstop 40 billion sort of built into that 40 billion is money that they could pay to Warner Brothers if they cancel the Netflix deal. There was a breakup fee that sort of built into that that backstop from Larry Ellison. So all indications are they're proceeding with this deal. There has been a lot of ping pong back and forth when it comes to this deal. How would you rate it in comparison to other takeover bids. Is it more than usual. Is this a lot of surprises more than what's typical. I would say more than typical. It's you know it's got all the hallmarks of a classic takeover fight and it's got all the Hollywood drama and aspect to it as well. So no this is a this is a colorful personalities colorful properties and colorful bidding I'd say. So we knew that Zaslav wanted more money. We knew that that was you know something from the very very beginning. And John Malone of course too. We have paramount thirty dollars a share. Netflix twenty seven seventy five. But all in it's probably roughly about the same in terms of pricing. What will it go up to. Do you think Chris. Well it seems he's got a paramount has to have at least another dollar to their offer to cover that two point eight billion dollar breakup fee. Then they've got to offer something else to make it more attractive for Warner Brothers to break up and move with them. So you know another dollar two. So you're talking thirty two dollars thirty three dollars a share. That's sort of the direction things would have to head.

Somaliland, a territory of more than 3 million people in the Horn of Africa, seceded from Somalia more than three decades ago, but it hadn't internationally been recognized as an independent state by any country.

Somaliland

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At least 15 injured in chemical attack, stabbing at Japan factory

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Jerusalem

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Pyongyang

Kim Jong-un orders North Korea to boost missile production in 2026

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Abuja

Nigeria confirms cooperation with U.S. strikes on IS targets

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Washington

Ukraine Invasion

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Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Christmas Mass Wednesday evening where he described the celebration as a feast of "faith, charity and hope". He reminded the faithful that refusing to help the poor and vulnerable is comparable to rejecting God altogether.

Rome

Pope Leo reminds believers to help the poor in first Christmas mass

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signaled progress in a Ukraine-Russia peace plan, after he told journalists about a new draft that would include a free economic zone and demilitarization. Holly Williams has the latest.

Kyiv

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Moscow

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Paris

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London

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New York

U.S., Venezuela in war of words at UNSC over military strikes

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Bristol

Two dead, several missing after nursing home explosion in Pennsylvania

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Wilmington

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Haymana

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Kiev

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The leaders of Denmark and Greenland insisted that the United States won't take over Greenland and demanded respect for their territorial integrity after President Donald Trump ‍​announced ​the appointment of a ‌special envoy to the semi-autonomous territory.

Breakdown