Investors warm to Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros.

Paramount CEO David Ellison spent Tuesday morning and afternoon meeting with major shareholders in Warner Bros. Discovery, trying to convince them to turn their shares over to him in his hostile takeover bid, according to people familiar with the matter.

Three people involved in different meetings with Ellison said investors walked away reassured by what they saw from Ellison and his top team, according to those who met with him — and were ready to tender their shares in support of his upstart bid.

In the back-to-back meetings on the sidelines of UBS’ technology conference in Midtown Ellison, legal chief Makan Delrahim, and strategy chief Andy Gordon were pressed by investors on the durability of Ellison’s Gulf financing, about the family’s commitment to the bid, about whether the bid will really secure antitrust blessings in the US or, more pressingly, in the EU, according to people in those meetings.

Ellison and his team reassured investors —mostly merger arbitrage hedge funds — that their Mideast financing is secure, pointing out that it took a great deal of confidence for three regional rivals to come together. They reminded shareholders that $11.8 billion, while a lot of money for most bidders, is a small portion of the Ellison family’s Oracle fortune. And they pointed to public comments from regulators and policymakers worried about the consequences of a Netflix deal for unionized workers and consumers alike.

Investors walked away impressed — and are now waiting to see how Netflix and WBD each respond. WBD has 10 days from Paramount’s announcement to reply to it; shareholders have 20 business days to turn over their shares to Paramount, if they’re won over by Ellison’s arguments.

Spokespeople for both WBD and Paramount declined to comment.

And as all parties make their case in New York, they’re also bulking up in DC. Paramount has hired ex-Trump advisor Jason Miller, Semafor previously reported, as their ground game begins to frustrate some administration officials. Warner has tapped ex-Trump advisor Chris LaCivita to help it make its case in the Beltway, according to two people close to the deal. LaCivita didn’t respond to requests for comment.