David Ellison Downplays Paramount’s Need to Acquire Warner Bros. Discovery: ‘There’s No Must-Have for Us’

David Ellison downplayed Paramount‘s need to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery during a conference call with Wall Street analysts on Monday after the company unveiled earnings that reflect the uphill climb that it faces in revitalizing its film and TV assets.

“It’s important to know that there’s no must-have for us. We really look at this as buy-versus-build, and we absolutely have the ability to build to get to where we want to go,” Ellison told Wall Street analysts when pressed about Paramount’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery. “We believe we can achieve our streaming goals, and that we can drive enterprise efficiency, and create value and long-term free cash flow generation all through the building.”

Ellison also vowed to be “disciplined” in his approach to pursuing additional assets.” It’s understood that Paramount in recent weeks has fielded two offers to acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its linear cable networks.

“As it relates to M&A, everything for us is going to tie back into, Does it accelerate those three core principles and the for us,” Ellison said. “We’re fortunate that we have the balance sheet to be able to be opportunistic when we think that M&A will accelerate our goals, but we’re also long term disciplined owner operators. We’ll always approach things through the lens of, How do we maximize value for shareholders? And from an M&A standpoint, it’s always going to be, How do we accelerate and improve our North Star principles?”

More to come