Paramount taps ex-Trump official as public policy VP amid Warner Bros bid

Feb 13 (Reuters) – Paramount Skydance has named Rene Augustine, a former Trump administration attorney, as its senior vice president ‌of global public policy, according to a company memo ‌seen by Reuters, amid an ongoing takeover battle for Warner Bros Discovery.

Augustine, who ​served in the Trump administration as a special assistant to the president and senior associate counsel in the office of White House Counsel, will join Paramount Skydance on February 17, reporting to Chief ‌Legal Officer Makan ⁠Delrahim.

“In her role, Rene will be responsible for developing strategic policies that advance our business objectives and ⁠building key diplomatic relationships that are important for advancing those objectives globally,” Delrahim said in the memo.

Delrahim, also a former senior U.S. ​antitrust official, ​previously worked with Augustine at ​the Department of Justice, the ‌Senate and the White House.

Augustine has served as deputy assistant attorney general in the antitrust division of the Justice Department from 2019 to 2021.

Paramount and Netflix are locked in a battle for Warner Bros.

This week, Paramount sweetened its bid by offering Warner ‌Bros investors about $650 million in extra ​cash for each quarter the deal fails ​to close after this ​year and agreeing to cover the $2.8 billion breakup ‌fee the HBO owner would owe ​Netflix if it ​walked away.

Netflix has offered to pay Warner Bros shareholders $27.75 per share in cash for the film and television studios, ​the extensive library ‌and its HBO Max streaming service, instead of a mix ​of cash and stock.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico ​City; Editing by Alan Barona)