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Animal spirits have been unleashed in the battle for Warner Bros. Discovery, and President Trump has made it clear that in the end, he’ll be involved in the regulatory approval decision, cementing the view that all deals are political in the current climate.

Netflix ended last week announcing it had a deal with WBD’s board to acquire its film and TV studios for $83 billion. Netflix apparently used the weekend for co-CEO Ted Sarandos to meet President Trump in the Oval Office. Not to be outdone, Paramount CEO David Ellison responded by launching a $102 billion tender offer for all of WBD, and emphasizing to CNBC’s David Faber the company’s (all-cash deal) higher premium and faster path to close.

The President told reporters he “know(s) the companies very well” and “would be involved” in deciding who ultimately acquires WBD, but quickly threw water on naming any favorites, saying “none of them are particularly great friends of mine. I want to do what is right.”

Semafor’s Ben Smith and Rohan Goswami added some more color from Washington, reporting that both companies courted former Trump advisor Jason Miller to lobby their case to the White House.

This is par for the course for this deal-making administration. At a conference this week, Lazard CEO Peter Orszag said that getting deals done now requires a “White House or Cabinet-level strategy.” The Journal’s editorial board echoed a similar sentiment, lamenting that this public lobbying approach is simply “the reality of today’s era of political dominance over business.”

Our friend Steven Davidoff Solomon, UC Berkeley Law Professor and nom de plume “Deal Professor,” took to LinkedIn to dissect Paramount’s tender offer through a game-theory lens, noting that both Warner and Paramount are effectively running down the clock as they wait for regulatory winds to shift and that he expects Paramount to file a lawsuit in Delaware, not necessarily to win on the merits, but to gain discovery and additional deal leverage in the process.

More to come as the plot thickens, in the meantime for all our deal-junkie readers, we also recommend checking out Bryce Elder’s FT Alphaville piece chronicling the “10 best worst hostile-takeover offers ever.”

Have a great weekend and Happy Hannukah!

GPP Team



The Wall Street Journal: PepsiCo to Cut Costs, Lower Food Prices in Deal with Activist

In a strategy update that focused on innovation, productivity, affordability, and margin expansion, PepsiCo announced a plan to enhance shareholder value while providing a preliminary 2026 financial outlook. The announcements, which were shared along with the news that Elliott Management is supportive of the strategy, come amid continued cooperation between the activist and company. Read More

Reuters: Exclusive: Starboard takes large stake in Clearwater Analytics, sources say

The activist investor has accumulated a 5% stake in the investment portfolio management software company, claiming the business is undervalued and would benefit from initiating a formal process to put itself up for sale. Read More

Bloomberg: Activist Investor Jana Urges Alkami Technology to Explore Sale

During Jana’s presentation at the always entertaining Bloomberg Activism Forum earlier this week, managing partner Scott Ostfeld called on financial-technology company Alkami to explore a sale. Read More



The Wall Street Journal: Massive Debt-Fueled Deals, From Warner to Electronic Arts, Are Back on Wall Street

Easy financing has powered the market for debt-laden megadeals, a resurgence that’s thrilling dealmakers but raising fresh concerns among bond investors about mounting leverage. Read More

The Wall Street Journal: IBM Strikes $11 Billion Deal for Confluent

IBM, the global hybrid cloud and AI provider announced it will acquire data-infrastructure company Confluent for $31 per share, marking the biggest deal for the company in recent years and capping a busy dealmaking year in the tech sector. Read More

The Information: Dealmakers Are Toasting a Solid Year for Tech M&A

Speaking of the tech sector, in a sign of returning animal spirits, M&A value across the industry surpassed $540 billion for the year, more than the last two years combined and the highest level since 2021. Read More

The Deal: Index Fund Mirroring Has Unintended Consequences

The proposal, intended to reduce the influence of the big three asset managers, could lead to activists, foreign investors and ESG-focused investors having outsized power in proxy votes. In a WSJ Opinion piece, Jan van Eck, CEO of VanEck Funds, wrote that “mirror voting is simple and proven, and it doesn’t require dismantling the index-fund industry or imposing complex new regulations. It simply aligns governance with economic reality.” Read More



IPO

The Wall Street Journal: SpaceX in Talks for $800 Billion Valuation Ahead of Potential 2026 IPO

SpaceX is pursuing a secondary share sale at an $800 billion valuation that would make it the most valuable U.S. private company while it continues to consider a potential IPO, potentially as early as 2026. Read More

Reuters: Medical supply firm Medline targets $55 billion valuation in blockbuster IPO

Medical supplies firm Medline is seeking to raise up to $5.37 billion in what would be 2025’s largest U.S. IPO, targeting a valuation of up to $55.3 billion. Read More



FROM OUR DESK TO YOURS

“A ridiculous process.” “Permanent damage.” “Egregious [behavior].” No, these are not descriptions coming from participants in the Warner Bros. sale saga, but from commentators discussing the final NCAA College Football Playoff rankings.

For fans of teams such as Notre Dame, Texas, Vanderbilt, and maybe even Duke, anger is at an all-time high against the committee (comprised of athletic directors, former players and coaches, and sportswriters) for not including those teams in the big dance.

The biggest case for inclusion in the playoff comes from Notre Dame who was ranked tenth (or higher) in most of the rankings and were knocked out because...well, who knows the real reason. Yes, Miami should have been included ahead of them since the two teams played against each other, and Miami won. But why did that matter until the last week of the season? Why was Notre Dame ranked No. 10 and Miami at No. 18 in November only for both teams to win out and finish No. 11 and No. 10, respectively? Notre Dame then made matters worse by grabbing its football and going home, denying their athletes the enjoyment of a bowl game for those of you who have not seen its response since.

We know that we are looking forward to the Playoffs and let us know if your favorite team made the dance.



PEOPLE MOVES

• Berkshire Hathaway announced a series of leadership changes, including the appointment of Charles Chang as the new CFO, replacing outgoing CFO Marc Hamburg. Read More
• Coca-Cola’s Board announced that Chief Operating Officer, Henrique Braun, will succeed James Quincey as CEO in March. Read More
• OpenAI has tapped Slack CEO Denise Dresser to be its first chief revenue officer. Read More
• BMW has appointed company veteran Milan Nedeljković as its next CEO, replacing its long-time executive, Oliver Zipse. Read More
• Match Group shared that Jackie Jantos will become CEO of Hinge, replacing outgoing Founder and CEO Justin McLeod who will launch a new standalone company, Overtone. Read More



• January 12-15: JP Morgan Healthcare Conference – San Francisco, CA
• January 30: Skytop Shareholder Activism Summit – New York, NY
• February 2-3: WSJ Invest Live - West Palm Beach, FL 

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