Tencent Bows Out of Paramount's Warner Bros Discovery Takeover Bid

Tencent Holdings has withdrawn from Paramount Skydance Corp's bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery, citing concerns over foreign investment scrutiny by the CFIUS. The Chinese giant pulled its $1 billion commitment from the $77.9 billion takeover offer. Paramount continues its bid with support from Gulf sovereign wealth funds.

Chinese tech behemoth Tencent Holdings has exited its involvement in Paramount Skydance Corp's acquisition attempt of Warner Bros Discovery. The move was revealed in updated filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Tencent retracted its $1 billion funding commitment amid concerns about the potential national-security reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which examines foreign investments for security threats. While CFIUS' approval was not mandatory for the deal, Paramount's bid faced scrutiny for sourcing foreign equity, leading to Tencent's withdrawal.

Paramount's blockbuster $77.9 billion hostile takeover bid, with rival interest from Netflix, still finds support from sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar, injecting $24 billion into the venture. These funds have agreed to forfeit management rights in Warner Bros to ease scrutiny pressures.

(With inputs from agencies.)