Paramount Considers Halbower from Pentwater Capital for Warner Bros Board Seat

Paramount Skydance is looking at Matthew Halbower, the founder of Pentwater Capital Management, as a potential candidate for a board seat at Warner Bros Discovery. This move is aimed at disrupting the proposed partnership between Warner Bros and Netflix.

Halbower, who is the seventh-largest investor in Warner Bros with about 50 million shares, has shown support for Paramount’s bid to acquire Warner Bros. The Financial Times first reported that Halbower might be considered as a candidate for the board.

Tensions are rising as another hedge fund, Ancora Holdings, has expressed disapproval of the Netflix deal and may launch its own proxy contest. Halbower emphasized that a final decision regarding his appointment to the board has not been made. He stated, “I want the board of Warner Bros to exercise their fiduciary duties and negotiate with Paramount. If they’re doing their part, then I may not need to join the board.”

According to the FT report, Paramount is preparing to nominate sufficient directors to overturn the majority of Warner Bros’ 14-person board, but the list of nominees is still being finalized. Paramount Skydance declined to comment on the situation, while Warner Bros and Netflix have not yet responded to requests for comments from Reuters.

In January, Halbower had written to Warner Bros Chairman Samuel DiPiazza, accusing the board of breaching its fiduciary duty by rejecting Paramount’s offer without due consideration. Since then, Paramount has improved its bid by offering Warner Bros investors additional cash for each quarter the deal fails to close after this year, and agreeing to cover the breakup fee owed to Netflix if the deal falls through.

Netflix, on the other hand, has offered to pay Warner Bros shareholders in cash for the film and television studios, library, and HBO Max streaming service. The situation is rapidly evolving, and the outcome remains uncertain as the battle for control over Warner Bros continues.