By Al Ahed Staff, Agencies
US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is among the outside investors supporting Paramount Skydance’s hostile bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that could give the Trump family partial ownership of CNN.
Paramount disclosed on Monday that Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners, is backing the $40 billion cash portion of the offer. The primary financial support is coming from Oracle founder Larry Ellison, father of Paramount CEO David Ellison, along with RedBird Capital Partners.
The Ellison family maintains close political, business and philanthropic ties to the "Israeli" entity, a connection that has drawn attention amid debates over foreign influence in US media ownership. Paramount has historically taken strong stances defending “Israeli” cultural interests.
In September, when a boycott of "Israeli" films and cultural institutions gained support from figures such as Emma Stone and Javier Bardem, Paramount publicly denounced it, calling the effort an attempt to “silence individual creative artists based on their nationality.”
Following legal intervention from UK Lawyers for "Israel", Warner Bros. Discovery also affirmed that boycotting "Israeli" film organizations would violate anti-discrimination policies.
Variety reported that Paramount executives have barred certain artists they deem “overtly antisemitic,” a label often used in the West to target critics of “Israeli” policies.
Affinity Partners’ involvement introduces a notable political dimension to the proposed takeover. Any acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery would require approval from the Trump administration, which raises concerns about impartiality given Trump’s repeated criticisms of CNN.
Trump recently said he would be “involved” in the regulatory review of a separate Netflix deal, surprising experts who note that such processes are normally independent.
Kushner founded Affinity Partners after Trump’s first term. The firm has attracted scrutiny due to substantial backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund [P.I.F.] and currently manages about $5.4 billion.
Affinity has invested in “Israel’s” Shlomo Group and Dubai-based platform Dubizzle and has participated in larger transactions, including a joint acquisition with P.I.F. and Silver Lake Partners of Electronic Arts for around $55 billion.
The investor group supporting Paramount’s Warner Bros. Discovery bid also includes sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.
Paramount said these foreign investors would waive governance rights, including board seats, to mitigate national security concerns and ease approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States [CFIUS].
Analysts, however, warn that the deal could still face intense scrutiny. Aaron Bartnick, a former CFIUS official under the Biden administration, noted that CFIUS approval is required unless there are no foreign investors or an official exemption letter is obtained.
If the acquisition succeeds, Larry Ellison and RedBird Capital Partners would become controlling shareholders of the restructured media company, underscoring Ellison’s long-standing influence in US–"Israel" political and technological relations.
No comments:
Post a Comment