One of the ways the companies grow is to do mergers and acquisitions and sometimes they work out well and sometimes they do not, but when the companies do the transaction the President and executive teams are vested in the transaction. When the President is vested in the transaction, at what point should the under the Kenny Rogers song – know when to hold them and know when to fold them. Two companies that really want to buy Warner Bros Discovery are in that situation.

In an article by Dawn Chmielewski of Reuters, the battle for Warner Bros Discover continues to go on and as it goes on both companies are spending money on winning the transaction and executive time and the battle goes on. On Wall Street the phrase is show me the money, Paramount Skydance Corp submitted a higher offer.

The new bid improves on its initial offer of $108.4 billion or $30 a share.

Netflix offered to buy Warner Bros Discovery for $82.7 billion or $27.75 a share.

Warner Bros Discovery’s Board of Directors still like the Netflix offer.

MoffettNathanson analysts had earlier said a winning bid should be in the range of $34 a share.

Warner Bros plans to spin off its cable TV assets such as CNN and HGTV into Discovery Global which could fetch between $1.33 or $6.86 a share according to Warner Bros estimates. Netflix likes it the idea, Paramount does not.

Ancora Capital, built up a $200 million stake Warner Bros Discovery and is pushing the Board to engage with Paramount, which is one of the reasons for the increased bid. Other investors such as Pentwater Capital Management are also engaging the Board.

The results of the merger for Netflix would be a combination of HBO would mean it the biggest global streaming company with roughly a half a billion subscribers. For those in the business in Hollywood, it could mean fewer job cuts.

For Parmount Skydance, the benefits include a studio bigger than market leader Disney and fuse 2 major TV operators that will control almost everything Americans watch on TV. It turns out Netflix stuck to its cost discipline and Parmount Skydance won.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, for many investors when a merger is offered some me the money is a cry because the company was doing well and earning profits, the owners have to deploy some of the money to other companies in the space. It is always good to have options if you are to sell. The vote for Netflix’s offer will be March 20.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.