Paramount's $108 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery is big - but not the biggest-ever hostile takeover attempted

"The all-cash offer of $30 per share works out to a valuation of more than $108 billion, or an equity valuation of $78.7 billion, for WBD's entire operation, putting it in the upper echelons of hostile takeover attempts in recent decades. In fairness, the $82.7 billion deal, or $72 billion equity valuation, from streaming giant Netflix is also pretty massive. That was the one WBD's board had agreed on, and it excluded certain pieces of the business."

""We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximize the value of their shares." Paramount CEO David Ellison said in a statement. To get a sense of the biggest hostile takeover deals of the past 30 years, Business Insider asked financial analytics provider Dealogic to pull the numbers. Here are the equity valuations of the 14 largest hostile takeover announcements since 1995, and where the Paramount deal for WBD would fit in."

"After a few rounds of negotiations and pressure from shareholders, AT&T accepted the offer. The deal gave rise to Comcast's national expansion. Twitter Inc by Elon Musk, 2022 - $41.3 billion The billionaire CEO of Tesla made an unsolicited offer to buy Twitter after building a large stake. Twitter initially resisted, but eventually accepted the deal. Musk, however, tried to back out of the deal and was met with litigation, before eventually closing the takeover he started."

Paramount Skydance submitted an all-cash $30 per share bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery at a $108.4 billion enterprise valuation and a $78.7 billion equity valuation. Netflix previously offered $82.7 billion enterprise value, or $72 billion equity value, in a deal the WBD board had accepted that excluded certain assets. Paramount characterized its bid as a direct appeal to shareholders to maximize share value. Dealogic compiled the largest hostile takeover announcements since 1995 to contextualize the offer. Historical examples include Comcast's 2002 acquisition of AT&T Broadband and Elon Musk's 2022 acquisition of Twitter.

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