Paramount Skydance on Monday made a $108.4 billion hostile takeover provide for all of Warner Bros. Discovery, with its all-cash bid coming simply three days after Netflix agreed to buy a part of Warner Bros. in a deal valued at $82.7 billion.
Warner Bros. Discovery “shareholders deserve a chance to think about our superior all-cash provide for his or her shares in the complete firm,” Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison said in a press release.
“Our public provide, which is on the identical phrases we supplied to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Administrators in non-public, gives superior worth, and a extra sure and faster path to completion,” he mentioned.
Paramount Skydance is the father or mother firm of CBS Information.
The brand new provide steps up the battle over the way forward for Warner Bros. Discovery, which on Friday agreed to a cope with Netflix beneath which the streaming large would purchase Warner’s streaming and film property. Warner Bros.’ storied movie library consists of classics like “Casablanca” and the “Harry Potter” movie collection.
Paramount Skydance mentioned its provide is a greater deal for Warner shareholders as a result of it consists of the whole lot of Warner Bros. Discovery, together with its cable tv channels similar to CNN, TBS, TNT and The Meals Community. The transaction would even have a neater path via the regulatory course of than Netflix’s provide, in keeping with Paramount.
“Paramount is extremely assured in reaching expeditious regulatory clearance for its proposed provide, because it enhances competitors and is pro-consumer, whereas creating a robust champion for artistic expertise and shopper alternative,” the corporate mentioned in a press release.
Potential antitrust hurdle
Some Wall Avenue analysts have mentioned the Netflix-Warner Bros. mixture may elevate issues amongst U.S. antitrust enforcers due to the streaming service’s dimension and the potential to cut back competitors within the media house.
“As a result of Netflix is positioned as the biggest streaming platform, the corporate’s acquisition of HBO Max providers and prospects raises crimson flags,” mentioned Jeffrey Might, managing editor for the Insights & Enrichment crew inside Wolters Kluwer Authorized and Regulatory U.S., in an e-mail.
Might added, “Netflix and HBO Max compete for subscribers. Their mixture might be seen as a menace to competitors and innovation.”
President Trump additionally signaled the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal may face hurdles, saying on Sunday that the mixed firm’s dimension “might be an issue.” Mr. Trump additionally mentioned he could be concerned in any choice about whether or not the federal authorities ought to approve the deal.
Usha Haley, a Wichita State College professor who makes a speciality of worldwide enterprise technique, informed the Related Press that Paramount’s ties to Mr. Trump are notable. Paramount CEO David Ellison is the son of Larry Ellison, who leads software program maker Oracle Corp. and is an avowed supporter of Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump “mentioned he will be concerned within the choice — we should always take him at face worth,” Haley mentioned. “For him, it is simply larger management over the media.”
Netflix declined to remark, whereas Warner Bros. Discovery did not instantly reply to a request for remark.
Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery jumped $1.65, or 6.3%, to $27.72 in early buying and selling on Monday, whereas Paramount Skydance shares rose 78 cents, or 5.8%, to $14.14. Netflix’s inventory slumped 4.9% to $95.64.
Paramount Skydance’s tender provide is about to run out on Jan. 8, 2026, until it’s prolonged.
Impression on streaming
Netflix, which has greater than 300 million subscribers, is the world’s largest streaming service, according to David R. King, a professor of administration at Florida State College.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming platforms, which embrace HBO Max and Discovery+, rank because the fourth-largest with 128 million subscribers, adopted by Paramount+ at No. 5, with 78 million prospects, he added. Amazon Prime Video and Disney/Hulu rank as No. 2 and three, respectively.
The prospect of extra media business consolidation has prompted critics similar to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, to talk out towards the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal. In a press release on Friday, Warren mentioned the mixture would “create one large media large with management of near half of the streaming market.”
Netflix is more likely to argue that different video platforms, similar to YouTube needs to be included in calculating streaming providers’ market share, according to The Guardian.
The bidding battle follows Warner Bros. Discovery’s announcement in June that it deliberate to split into two businesses, separating its cable networks from its streaming and studios enterprise.
However in October, the media conglomerate mentioned it had attracted interest from corporations about shopping for all or elements of it outright, with the Wall Avenue Journal reporting that media and leisure companies, together with Netflix, Paramount Skydance and Comcast, had been pursuing a deal.
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders “should select between [Paramount Skydance’s] straight $30-a-share money provide and Netflix’s barely decrease, extra complicated bid with a linear networks spin-off, each carrying severe antitrust questions,” David O’Hara, managing director at market analysis agency MKI World Companions, mentioned in an e-mail.
