Larry Ellison, who has a $246 billion fortune, to support Paramount.

The battle to take over Warner Bros. Discovery continues to draw in suitors. Jae C. Hong - The Associated Press.

By MOLLY SCHUETZAND CALEB MUTUA | BLOOMBERG

Larry Ellison is throwing his personal fortune behind Paramount Skydance's bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, raising the stakes in a fiercely contested battle with Netflix.

Both suitors moved on Monday to strengthen the financial backing for their offers, though they stopped short of increasing their bids. Netflix refinanced a portion of its planned $59 billion of debt as a way to ensure a lasting investment-grade rating- a key advantage it holds over the lower-rated Paramount.

But it's the personal guarantee of Ellison, the world's fifth-richest person with a $246 billion fortune, that could force a rethink by Warner Bros. The board previously urged shareholders to reject Paramount's offer in part because the billionaire father of its Chief Executive Officer David Ellison had backed the $40.4 billion of equity financing with a revocable trust that could, as the name implies, be withdrawn or amended at any time.

Paramount has been aggressively pursuing Warner Bros. for months and Ellison was taken by surprise when the board agreed to a deal with Netflix for $82.7 billion for the streaming and studio assets.

"In an effort to address Warner Bros.'s amorphous need for 'flexibility' in interim operations, Paramount's revised proposed merger agreement offers further improved flexibility to Warner Bros. on debt refinancing transactions, representations and interim operating covenants," Paramount said Monday.

Larry Ellison, 81, the chairman of Oracle, agreed to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of $40.4 billion in equity financing for the offer and any damages claims against Paramount, according to the statement. Ellison also agreed not to revoke the family trust and will keep its assets in place while the Warner Bros. transaction is pending. The company said it's publishing records confirming that the Ellison family trust owns about

1.16 billion shares of Oracle common stock and that all material liabilities are publicly disclosed.

Paramount also offered to increase its regulatory reverse termination fee to $5.8 billion from $5 billion. Warner Bros. would have to pay $2.8 billion to Netflix if it backs out of its deal and goes with another suitor, according to terms of the agreement.

Ellison's personal guarantee gives Paramount a critical boost to its financing, some market participants say. Warner Bros.' reason for opposing the bid "is dissipating fast," said Louis Navellier, chief investment officer at Navellier & Associates. "To take a bid that's less valuable because you question a trust is totally bogus," he said. "The debt is not an issue because of the full faith and credit of Larry Ellison."

That still might not be enough to persuade the Warner Bros. board, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, which said the revised termination fee and financing costs still "leave the $30-a-share bid inferior to Netflix's.''