Warner Gives the Ellisons a Pricey Path to a Deal: Chris Hughes

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’s rejection of the Ellison family’s $108 billion takeover bid takes the mudslinging in this battle up a notch. But the core sticking point remains: The Hollywood studio questions whether the Ellison-led consortium is good for the money. That objection ought to be easy to overcome, and yet it’s causing real difficulties.

To recap, Warner agreed on Dec. 5 to sell itself to Netflix Inc. after spinning off its cable-television networks later next year. Netflix’s offer values the post-spinoff Warner at $83 billion including assumed net debt.

This would be financed mainly by new borrowing along with ...