Overview
- Paramount Skydance opened a formal all-cash tender at $30 per share, valuing Warner Bros. Discovery at about $108.4 billion and covering the entire company, including CNN, TNT, TBS and Discovery.
- Netflix previously agreed to buy WBD’s studios and streaming assets for $27.75 per share in cash and stock, a deal predicated on spinning off the linear TV networks into a separate company.
- Warner Bros. Discovery said it will carefully review Paramount’s offer within the required 10 business days but has not changed its board recommendation in favor of the Netflix agreement.
- Paramount detailed financing that includes Ellison family capital, about $24 billion from three Middle East sovereign wealth funds, investments from RedBird Capital and Affinity Partners, and large bank debt commitments.
- Both bids face intensive antitrust scrutiny, with President Trump saying the Netflix-WBD deal “could be a problem”; markets reacted with WBD shares rising, Netflix falling and Paramount gaining, and the contest could extend into 2026 with potential bid increases, matching rights and sizable breakup fees in play.
