Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestitures

• Warner Bros. Board Rebuffs Paramount’s Latest Buyout Offer - The board said the blockbuster deal it reached with Netflix last month posed less risk.
• Private Equity, Saddled With Investments It Can’t Sell, Loses Its Luster - As funds deliver mediocre returns and sheds investors, the industry is struggling to unload 31,000 investments, an increase over this time last year.
• Larry Ellison Personally Guarantees Paramount Bid for Warner Brothers - Mr. Ellison’s personal guarantee is meant to address concerns that the Warner Bros. Discovery’s board had expressed about Paramount’s original offer.
• TikTok Signs Agreements With Investors in Step Toward Avoiding a U.S. Ban - The Chinese-owned video app formalized commitments from the software giant Oracle and two investment firms as part of a deal to keep TikTok operating in the United States.
• Warner Bros. Says Ellisons ‘Misled’ Shareholders in Takeover Bid - The claim was made as part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s dismissal of Paramount’s hostile takeover offer.
• Elon Musk’s SpaceX Valued at $800 Billion, as It Prepares to Go Public - A sale of insider shares at $421 a share would make Mr. Musk’s rocket company the most valuable private company in the world, as it readies for a possible initial public offering next year.
• Paramount Says Money Is No Object. Warner Bros. Isn’t Convinced. - Larry Ellison is backstopping Paramount’s bid for Warner Brothers, but Warner Brothers is concerned that the billionaire has not provided a personal guarantee to pay.
• Asserting a Personal Role in Warner Bros. Battle, Trump Seeks to Expand His Powers Again - The move comes as the Supreme Court also appears poised to put antitrust enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission under his control.
• Trump Stands in the Middle as Netflix and Paramount Vie for a Megadeal - The president has shattered norms by pledging to “be involved” in the regulatory fate of a transaction that could reshape the news and entertainment industries.
• Who Is Andrew Ferguson, the FTC Chairman Who Tilted the Agency to Trump? - Andrew Ferguson has used the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer protection mandate to investigate issues important to President Trump and his base.