Film Production
Delaware judge refuses to fast-track Paramount suit over Warner Bros–Netflix deal
NEW YORK: A Delaware judge has declined to put Paramount Skydance’s lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery on a fast track, dealing an early setback to Paramount’s effort to prise open details of Warner Bros.’ proposed $82.7 billion merger with Netflix.
Ruling on Thursday, Morgan Zurn of the Delaware Chancery Court said Paramount had not met the high legal bar required to expedite the case. The media group, she found, failed to show it would suffer “irreparable harm” from what it claims are misleading disclosures by Warner Bros.’ board about the Netflix deal.
As a shareholder rather than a bidder in control of the process, Paramount could not argue it was directly harmed by alleged gaps or errors in disclosures, the judge said, because it would not itself be voting on a tender offer.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this week, sought to force Warner Bros. to provide fuller information about the Netflix transaction before shareholders are asked to approve it. The move has further inflamed an already rancorous takeover battle that has unsettled Hollywood studios and Wall Street alike.
Paramount has been circling Warner Bros. since October, tabling several approaches, including its latest all-cash offer of $30 per share. Warner Bros. has repeatedly rejected those advances, throwing its weight behind Netflix’s $27.75 stock-and-cash proposal, which its board has deemed superior.
“Today’s lawsuit by Paramount Skydance was yet another unserious attempt to distract, and the judge saw right through it,” Warner Bros. said in a statement. The company added that its board had unanimously concluded Paramount’s proposal did not trump the Netflix deal.
Paramount, whose assets include CBS, argues its offer carries fewer risks and lower costs. David Ellison, Paramount’s chairman, said in a letter to shareholders this week that he would contest the Netflix transaction at Warner Bros.’ annual meeting or at a special meeting convened to approve the deal.
Warner Bros., home to franchises ranging from Batman to Harry Potter and the HBO network, now presses on with the Netflix tie-up. Paramount, rebuffed in court and outbid in the boardroom, is left to fight on another day.
Film Production
Priyanka Kaur Dhillon joins SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution
A seasoned content dealmaker with 16 years in digital and satellite media joins the Bengali entertainment powerhouse as it pushes into the pan-India music market
Mumbai: Priyanka Kaur Dhillon has made her move. The content acquisitions and commercials veteran, most recently commercial manager at Sony Pictures Networks India, has joined SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution, stepping into one of the more interesting briefs in regional entertainment right now.
SVF is no ordinary regional label. Over 30 years it has built a formidable legacy in Bengali cinema and music, driven by culturally resonant storytelling and a catalogue that consistently punches above its weight. Its recent success with Chiraiya underlines the point. But the Kolkata-based powerhouse now has its sights firmly set beyond Bengal, most visibly through Legacy, a rap reality series produced in collaboration with hip-hop label Kalamkaar that signals a deliberate push into the pan-India music ecosystem.
Dhillon brings precisely the kind of muscle SVF needs for that expansion. At Sony Pictures Networks India, she led film acquisition and commercials and handled music licensing across the entire satellite network. Before that, she spent nearly 15 years at Hungama, rising to assistant general manager and leading strategic content licensing for the platform’s digital entertainment business, with a particular focus on international markets. Her label relationships span the full roster: Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Believe International, Tunecore, The Orchard and a clutch of smaller aggregators. She has negotiated and closed deals with Hollywood studios, Bollywood production houses and regional content players alike, building pricing models and deal structures off data analysis rather than instinct.
Announcing the appointment, Dhillon said she was “thrilled to begin this journey with an iconic Bengali music label and content powerhouse,” adding that SVF’s “constant drive to push boundaries” was what drew her to the role.
SVF has spent three decades proving that regional does not mean limited. With a sharp commercial operator now steering its music distribution, its bid to go national just got a good deal more serious.
