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Warner Bros Discovery Inc. has agreed to reopen negotiations with rival Hollywood studio Paramount Skydance Corp. after the suitor proposed raising its bid and sweetened other terms of its offer, setting the stage for a renewed showdown with Netflix.
Netflix, which Warner Bros. still described as its preferred bidder, has granted the board seven days to discuss Paramount’s most recent proposal, according to a statement Tuesday. The decision came after a Paramount banker told a Warner Bros. board member that Paramount would offer at least $31 a share, or $1 a share higher than its previous offer, if the company agreed to reopen talks. Warner Bros. now wants to see that, and other aspects of Paramount’s new bid, in writing.
Warner Bros. said the board still unanimously recommends shareholders vote in favor of its binding agreement to sell its namesake studios and HBO Max streaming business to Netflix for $27.75 a share, or $72 billion. Paramount’s all-cash $77.9 billion bid, which is backed by billionaire Larry Ellison, is for the entirety of Warner Bros., including its cable TV channels such as CNN and TNT that are otherwise planned to be spun off under a deal with Netflix. Warner Bros. has scheduled a shareholder vote on the Netflix deal for March 20.
The decision to reengage with Paramount, which confirms Bloomberg’s reporting Sunday, adds another twist in the long drawn-out saga over control of one of Hollywood’s most iconic properties. The fight for Warner Bros., the century-old studio behind films from Casablanca to Batman, and hit TV series like Friends, is one of the biggest media deals in years and has the power to reshape the entertainment industry.

Today's show features:
Bloomberg News Managing Editor for Media & Entertainment Lucas Shaw and Bloomberg News Senior M&A Reporter Michelle Davis on Warner Bros. Reopens Talks as Paramount Signals Higher Bid
Bloomberg News Managing Editor for Global Consumer Tech Mark Gurman on Apple Ramps Up Work on Glasses, Pendant and Camera AirPods (CLEAN UP LINE DROP)
Bloomberg News Finance Reporter Max Abelson on The Leon Black Files: Epstein Was Fixer for His Deepest Secrets
Drive to the Close with Bill Smead, Founder, Chairman and CIO of Smead Capital Management, on the energy market and his stock pick
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Brad Finkel founded Hoboken Farms in 1992. His family has had deep roots in Hoboken dating back to around 1895. As a youngster, whenever Brad visited friends, he was always asked to bring fresh bread, mozzarella, and pastas from Hoboken's local shops. Soon, neighbors and ex-Hobokenites who missed these local delicacies began requesting deliveries as well. Brad saw an opportunity and started a small business to meet this demand.

Hoboken Farms, once a part-time endeavor, became Brad's full-time obsession. As his community grew to encompass around 800 markets annually, so did his commitment to providing nourishment and inspiration through food and family. Brad details his growing line of farm market products and how a critical new investment is helping Hoboken Farms continue its evolution into a beloved supermarket brand. Brad speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.
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It’s an open secret that the Chinese government has engaged in a global campaign to acquire intellectual property from foreign rivals. At the center of that campaign is the Ministry of State Security, China’s elusive intelligence agency. The US has apprehended hundreds of people accused of giving information to the MSS, but the agency’s inner workings have been a mystery – until now.
The Sixth Bureau from Bloomberg News follows an MSS intelligence officer whose mission was to acquire the crown jewels of American aerospace companies. With aliases, blackmail and the occasional break-in, he targeted corporate giants. That is, until his sloppiness – and a cunning FBI sting – led to a stunning reversal: Xu Yanjun became the first Chinese intelligence officer ever convicted on American soil.
The Sixth Bureau is the story of superpowers, their secrets and how one Chinese spy got caught.
Listen to episodes 1 and 2 now on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Europe’s fate is intertwined with the US while faulting the continent for what he said was a drift away from their shared Western values.
The double-edged message offered some reassurance to allied leaders gathered at the Munich Security Conference but did little to temper their push for more independence from Washington.
“We want Europe to prosper because we’re interconnected in so many different ways, and because our alliance is so critical,” Rubio told Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait on the sidelines of the conference on Saturday. “But it has to be an alliance of allies that are capable and willing to fight for who they are and what’s important.”
“What is it that binds us together? Ultimately, it’s the fact that we are both heirs to the same civilization, and it’s a great civilization,” he said. “It’s one we should be proud of.”
Rubio’s comments elaborated on a speech he delivered to the event, Europe’s premier annual security gathering, earlier Saturday morning. The speech was the most anticipated of the three-day conference, with fellow leaders eager to hear if he would double down on the contemptuous tone voiced a year earlier by Vice President JD Vance at the same venue.
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