Warner Bros set to spurn $108bn Paramount hostile offer

This text is an on-site model of our FirstFT e-newsletter. Subscribers can signal as much as our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas version to get the e-newsletter delivered each weekday morning. Discover all of our newsletters hereGood morning and welcome again. In at this time’s e-newsletter:Warner Bros to rebuff Paramount’s hostile bidThe yr’s largest IPOInside Zuckerberg’s turbulent wager on AI The most popular resort openings of 2026We begin with the takeover battle for Warner Bros Discovery, which is planning to advocate to its shareholders that they reject Paramount’s $108bn hostile bid.Right here’s what we all know: WBD is sceptical that Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison will backstop the deal and is near finalising a response to Paramount’s tender supply. Paramount, which is run by Larry’s son David Ellison, appealed on to WBD shareholders final week with an all-cash, $30-per-share takeover supply after dropping out to Netflix in an public sale for the studio and streaming firm. WBD is anticipated to stipulate 4 central criticisms of Paramount’s supply, arguing that its worth, financing and phrases are poor in contrast with Netflix’s deal agreed earlier this month. In an additional twist yesterday, Jared Kushner’s funding agency Affinity Companions, which had been backing the Paramount supply, pulled out.Not the ultimate supply? WBD traders who’ve spoken with its senior administration mentioned WBD was assured in Netflix’s proposal however remained open to a brand new Paramount supply that addressed their funding issues and raised the bid. Paramount has accused WBD’s board of not appropriately replying to its final supply, which additionally said that it was not “greatest and ultimate”, indicating that the Ellisons are prepared to pay extra for the corporate. Learn the complete story.Right here’s what else we’re retaining tabs on at this time:IPOs: Personal equity-owned medical provide group Medline Industries raised $6.3bn in an upsized share sale yesterday within the largest IPO of the yr. Its shares begin buying and selling on Nasdaq at this time whereas Andersen Group, the tax and consulting agency began by alumni of Enron’s collapsed accounting agency Arthur Andersen, additionally makes its debut.Fed converse: Federal Reserve Board governor Christopher Waller is to talk on the financial outlook earlier than the Yale College CEO Summit whereas Federal Reserve Financial institution of New York president John Williams offers the opening remarks on the 2025 FX Market Construction Convention in New York. Individually, Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic is ready to take part in dialogue on the financial outlook earlier than the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce.Outcomes: Basic Mills experiences interim outcomes whereas Micron Expertise publishes first-quarter earnings.5 extra prime stories1. Unique: JPMorgan Chase has withdrawn nearly $350bn in money from its account on the Federal Reserve since 2023 and ploughed a lot of it into US authorities debt because it tries to defend its income in opposition to price cuts. The financial institution elevated its holdings of US Treasuries over the identical interval from $231bn to $450bn. The transfers replicate how the US’s largest financial institution has been making ready for the top of a interval of simple income.2. Donald Trump has an “alcoholic’s persona”; JD Vance has been a “conspiracy theorist for a decade”; Elon Musk is an “odd, odd duck”. These have been a few of the judgments delivered in an explosive Self-importance Honest interview with Susie Wiles, the White Home chief of workers. 3. Amazon is in talks to take a position greater than $10bn in OpenAI and promote it extra chips and computing energy, within the newest funding deal tying the AI start-up to its infrastructure suppliers. Amazon is discussing an settlement that may push OpenAI’s valuation above $500bn, in keeping with individuals conversant in the matter.4. Donald Trump has mentioned he’s ordering “a complete and full blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers travelling to and from Venezuela. The US president has been turning up the warmth on the Venezuelan strongman in current days.5. The US unemployment price rose to 4.6 per cent in November, the very best degree in additional than 4 years. The financial system added 64,000 jobs in November however shed 105,000 in October, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to chop rates of interest additional within the new yr.Extra on the Federal Reserve: Citadel’s chief government Ken Griffin has referred to as for Donald Trump to create “distance” between the Federal Reserve and the White Home because the race to exchange the top of the US central financial institution reaches its climax.Right now’s large learn© FT montage/Getty ImagesA yr of inner dysfunction, fluctuating priorities and colossal spending at Meta has rattled insiders and traders. As Mark Zuckerberg bets on turning his social media platform from synthetic intelligence laggard to chief, 2026 might be the yr his imaginative and prescient begins to grow to be actuality — or shatters below stress.We’re additionally studying . . . Chart of the dayGermany’s parliament is ready to comply with greater than €50bn in navy purchases at this time, rounding off a bumper yr because the EU’s largest nation ploughs forward with an enormous rearmament or “Zeitenwende”, a sea change in its method to safety and defence. Take a break from the information . . . From a reborn Tuscan hamlet and a French island hideaway to a $2,000-per-night tent within the Omani desert, listed below are the recent resort openings of 2026.