Investing.com -- MFE-MediaForEurope NV, one of Europe's largest broadcasting groups, has expressed support for Paramount Skydance Corp.'s $108.4 billion hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., citing competition concerns about Netflix Inc.'s competing offer.
Pier Silvio Berlusconi, CEO of MFE (formerly known as Mediaset), stated: "This deal is very important for the global media industry. I lean toward Paramount simply for greater competition in the OTT world: beyond Netflix, Amazon and Disney, with Paramount there would be four big OTT players instead of three."
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Warner Bros. Discovery previously agreed to sell its studios and streaming business, including HBO, to Netflix for $27.75 per share while spinning off CNN, TNT and other cable networks into a new entity called Discovery Global. Paramount countered with a $30-per-share hostile tender offer for the entire group.
The bidding war has created political divisions in Washington, with Republicans urging President Donald Trump to block the Netflix deal while some Democrats have criticized the Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funding behind Paramount's offer.
Berlusconi emphasized that these political considerations do not affect MFE's position, which he described as focused solely on preventing excessive concentration among global streaming platforms.
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