JPMorgan (JPM) and Allen & Company stand to earn $90M each for serving as advisers to Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), regardless of which company wins the bidding war for the media giant, according to an exchange filing.
Warner Bros. (WBD) paid JPMorgan (JPM) about $189M in fees two years prior to the deal for financial advisory and other services.
This included JPMorgan’s (JPM) work on a bridge loan that allowed Warner Bros. (WBD) to pursue its separation into two companies.
JPMorgan (JPM) worked with Warner Bros. (WBD) for over two years on possible M&A options and came up with the plan to split the company in two, a source told Reuters.
For this, Warner Bros. (WBD) bought back about half of its bonds at a discount, in a deal that was financed with a $17.5B bridge loan from JPMorgan (JPM). It’s said to be the largest non-investment-grade bridge loan ever made on Wall Street.
Netflix (NFLX) sweetened its offer for Warner Bros.’ (WBD) streaming and studio assets this week. Investors now await updates from Paramount Skydance (PSKY), whose tender offer for the entire company closes on Wednesday.