Overview
- WBD plans to announce its path in mid to late December after launching a formal review that includes a potential split, asset sales, or a full company sale.
- Paramount Skydance has had three takeover offers rejected, including a $23.50-per-share bid with 80% cash and 20% equity, and is considering taking an offer directly to shareholders.
- Paramount has declined to sign WBD’s NDA that includes a standstill, keeping open the option of a hostile tender, while a 20% long-term shareholder threshold could trigger a special meeting to counter a bid.
- Netflix and Comcast have explored acquiring WBD’s studio and streaming assets, with Comcast’s Mike Cavanagh calling such a deal complementary to its planned post-Versant NBCUniversal structure.
- Industry analysis flags significant antitrust risk for a Paramount–WBD merger, estimating a combined 33.2% domestic market share and a roughly 365-point HHI increase, as exhibitors label the situation a “red alert” and organize responses.