The rainmakers poised for a Warner Bros windfall
In a year of megadeals and blockbuster fees, the frenzied takeover battle for Warner Bros Discovery is the dream series finale for any investment banker.
The sale, set to be the biggest deal announced this year, involves some of Wall Street’s leading rainmakers: Centerview’s Blair Effron, Evercore co-founder Roger Altman and Moelis’s newly-installed chief executive Navid Mahmoodzadegan.
But the cliffhanger to the drama — Paramount last week submitting a $108bn hostile bid for the whole company in an attempt to gatecrash Netflix’s nearly $83bn deal for the studio and streaming assets — means that not everyone will get their fill.
Netflix took pole position over a frenzied Thanksgiving weekend of dealmaking. Now, bankers face having their Christmas holidays claimed as well, as a December 22 deadline for WBD to opine on Paramount’s hostile offer looms.
“When the NBA players play on Christmas Day, nobody says our holidays are ruined. They say isn’t it great you’re in the NBA,” said an adviser involved in the deal. “This is as good as it gets for investment bankers.”
The best-placed banks are those selling WBD — Allen & Co, Evercore and JPMorgan. They have steered WBD from a share price that had sunk below $8 a year ago to a deal valuing the media group at $30 a share and that may yet rise. Centerview and RedBird Advisors are advising Paramount’s rival bid.
For Moelis, the boutique’s role as Netflix’s main adviser marks a major coup for Mahmoodzadegan, who recently took over from the firm’s eponymous founder Ken Moelis.
The deal also is the capstone of a strong year for Well Fargo, the US consumer bank often thought of as an also-ran in investment banking. It is leading a $59bn bridge loan to fund the lion’s share of the cash portion of Netflix’s deal.
This year Wells also nabbed an advisory role on Union Pacific’s $85bn takeover of railroad company Norfolk Southern.