Affinity Partners, the company founded by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, will no longer be part of the group of investors backing Paramount’s hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, a source confirmed Tuesday.
“With two powerful competitors vying to secure the future of this unique U.S. asset, Affinity has decided to no longer pursue this opportunity. We continue to believe there is a strong strategic rationale for Paramount’s bid,” Affinity said in a statement to Bloomberg News, which was first to report the company’s decision to withdraw.
Paramount’s offer, launched last week, is backed by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital. At the time of the announcement, the company disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that outside backers included Affinity, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and the Qatar Investment Authority. They agreed to waive governance rights associated with their stock investment, according to the filing.
Kushner’s involvement quickly attracted the attention of the press and Democrats on Capitol Hill, who raised concerns about his ties to Donald Trump. The president said he would be involved in the government approval process for any transaction with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount’s offer is valued at $108.4 billion for all of WBD. Warner Bros. Discovery has already reached a deal with Netflix, which will acquire the film and television studio, HBO and streaming assets, while the cable channels will be spun off into a separate entity. WBD Board of Directors Evaluates Paramount’s Latest Offer.
