NYPo reported:
Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison is in talks with major private equity firms to join his possible bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery – a megadeal that could cost upwards of $60 billion, The Post has learned.
Potential investors weighing the WBD deal include Apollo Global Management – the buyout giantThe man working with Ellison is "new legal chief, Makan Delrahim, the former Trump DOJ antitrust chief recently hired to do deals." Delrahim's bio includes:
Prior to joining Paramount, Makan Delrahim was a Partner at Latham & Watkins LLP, where he has advised multiple clients navigating complex mergers and transactions, government investigations, and high-stakes crisis situations. Delrahim's clients have included, among others, private equity firms Apollo, Hellman & Friedman, KKR, and Silver Lake, Caesars Entertainment, Cox Media Group, Eldridge Industries, Endeavor/WME, FanDuel, LIV Golf, Oak View Group, Omnicom, Searchlight Capital, Ultimate Fighting Championship, and World Poker Tour.Makan Delrahim also worked as an Assistant Chief of the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department where he was:.
"highly regarded for his effective leadership of the division's work in entertainment, media and sports, restructuring the antitrust division to create sections that oversee media and entertainment as well as fintech and financial services."
If Delrahim had been tougher regarding antitrust would he be in the position he is now? Doubtful.
PEU "dry powder" has been a Lebron James pregame clap boon for sports investing. Look under the hood of any professional sports league and one is liable to find a PEU, maybe several. That league may also be bolted to a Middle East sovereign wealth fund.
The thought of the greed and leverage boys joining with the son of a TechGod to determine what entertainment is available, well that's Halloween level frightening.
Remember Apollo co-founder Leon Black provided $170 million in funding for Jeffrey Epstein and paid another $62.5 million to settle any criminal liability with the Virgin Islands. Combined that's enough money to tip a Presidential election (like TechGod Elon Musk in 2024). Speaking of such, Trump II does not want the Epstein files released and he would need to approve a Paramount Skydance buyout of Warner Bros. Might a condition be no news coverage of Epstein's victims during their predator name release?
On the surface there is much unnerving about any deal and its players. Underneath, it's likely far more disturbing than even PEUReport can imagine.
