Overview
- Paramount is taking its all-cash $30-per-share offer directly to Warner Bros. Discovery investors in a hostile tender that covers the entire company, including Global Networks, and runs until Jan. 8, 2026 unless extended.
- The move challenges Netflix’s board‑approved agreement to acquire WBD’s studios and streaming assets for $27.75 per share in cash and stock, a deal that carries a roughly $5.8 billion breakup fee and depends on WBD first spinning off its cable networks.
- Paramount says its bid delivers about $18 billion more in cash and a faster, more certain path to closing, arguing that the Netflix transaction poses greater execution and regulatory risk after WBD previously rejected similar Paramount proposals.
- Financing for Paramount’s offer includes equity from the Ellison family and RedBird Capital, alongside about $54 billion in debt commitments from Bank of America, Citi and Apollo, according to company statements and reports.
- Regulatory and political scrutiny looms over both pathways, with President Trump saying the Netflix deal “could be a problem,” while markets responded to the tender with WBD and Paramount shares rising and Netflix shares slipping.