Warner Bros. Discovery doesn't have to reveal secrets. The fight for TVN and billions is entering a new phase

A judge in the US state of Delaware announced on Thursday that Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) does not have to disclose details about the company's sale process and the agreement with Netflix, as requested by Paramount Skydance, which also wants to acquire WBD.

Paramount went to court on the matter earlier this week. The company's president, David Ellison, noted that Warner Bros. Discovery – which Paramount is trying to acquire in a hostile takeover – refused to disclose information about the deal to sell part of the company to Netflix. This includes: about the method of valuation of the entire transaction, as well as the valuation of the part of the company containing television channels, including TVN, which will remain in the hands of the current owners.

Paramount asked the court to expedite the processing of the application because its offer to WBD expires next Wednesday (January 21). Paramount also announced on Thursday that it plans to extend this deadline.

On Thursday, Judge Morgan Zurn denied Paramount's request to speed up the trial, emphasizing that the company failed to prove that it would suffer irreparable harm as a result of WBD's alleged failure to disclose information – reported the Wall Street Journal. Zurn added that Paramount has other ways to obtain this information.

The daily reported that representatives of Paramount and Warner corporations exchanged insults during Thursday's court hearing. Lawyers representing Paramount said Warner was behaving like an “ostrich with its head in the sand.” Warner representatives, in turn, argued that Paramount was “trying to close the film set before filming is completed.”

Warner Bros. Discovery agreed last month to sell the streaming and film studios portion of the company to Netflix for $82.7 billion. The management board of WBD rejected Paramount's alternative offer to Netflix to acquire the company. Paramount submitted an offer valued at PLN 108.4 billion for the entire company. He suggested that he could increase the value of the offer, but so far he has not done so.

From Washington Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)

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