Affinity Partners, the firm founded by Donald Trump‘s son-in-law Jared Kushner, will no longer be a part of the group of investors backing Paramount‘s hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery, a source confirmed on Tuesday.
“With two strong competitors vying to secure the future of this unique American asset, Affinity has decided no longer to pursue the opportunity. We continue to believe there is a strong strategic rationale for Paramount’s offer,” Affinity said in a statement to Bloomberg News, which was the first to report on the firm’s decision to exit.
Paramount’s bid, launched last week, is backed by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital. At the time it was announced, the company disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that outside funders included Affinity, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the Qatar Investment Authority. They have agreed to forgo governance rights associated with their equity investment, according to the filing.
Kushner’s involvement quickly generated attention from the press and Capitol Hill Democrats, who raised concerns over his connections to Donald Trump. The president has said that he will be involved in the government approval process of any Warner Bros. Discovery transaction.
Paramount’s bid is valued at $108.4 billion offer for all of WBD. Warner Bros. Discovery already has entered into a deal with Netflix, which will acquire the movie and TV studio, HBO and the streaming assets, while the cable channels will be spun off into a separate entity. The WBD board is weighing Paramount’s latest offer.
