Paramount Skydance continues to drive forward in its attempts to outbid mega-streamer Netflix in a battle to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery — even after the Warner Bros. leadership has repeatedly rejected Paramount’s offer.
Netflix announced in December a $82.7 billion deal to acquire much of Warner Bros.’ business — including franchise juggernauts “Harry Potter,” “The Lord of the Rings” and the DC Universe.
Days later, Paramount launched a hostile all-cash tender bid to acquire Warner Bros., offering shareholders $30 per share, a bid valued at $108 billion. Warner Bros. has rejected Paramount’s offer eight times — even when revised.
Still, Paramount insists its $30 per share tender offer is the “superior” bid, the entertainment company said in a Thursday update.
“Our offer clearly provides WBD investors greater value and a more certain, expedited path to completion,” Paramount CEO David Ellison said in a statement Thursday. “Throughout this process, we have worked hard for WBD shareholders and remain committed to engaging with them on the merits of our superior bid and advancing our ongoing regulatory review process.”
In the ongoing bidding war, Netflix and Paramount are asking for different things. Netflix’s proposal seeks to acquire Warner Bros.’ studio and streaming business, including legacy TV shows and HBO Max. Paramount, in contrast, wants to buy all of Warner Bros., including cable networks like CNN and TNT in addition to the studio and streaming.
“The Board unanimously determined that the Paramount’s latest offer remains inferior to our merger agreement with Netflix across multiple key areas,” Samuel A. Di Piazza Jr., chair of the Warner Bros. Discovery board of directors, said in a statement Wednesday.
“Paramount’s offer continues to provide insufficient value, including terms such as an extraordinary amount of debt financing that create risks to close and lack of protections for our shareholders if a transaction is not completed. Our binding agreement with Netflix will offer superior value at greater levels of certainty, without the significant risks and costs Paramount’s offer would impose on our shareholders.”
If the deal between Netflix and Warner Bros. goes through, it will close in roughly 12 to 18 months, giving Netflix ownership over two of the three Warner Bros. pillars — leaving Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes CNN, TNT, TBS and other networks as a separate company that stays publicly traded.
Lawmakers push back on mega media merger
Lawmakers have expressed concerns over the anticipated mega media merger — arguing the massive merger could hurt media competition and drive up consumer prices.
President Donald Trump said the merger “could be a problem” given the sheer size of the combined market share, per PBS.
“Netflix is a great company. They’ve done a phenomenal job. Ted is a fantastic man,” the president added, in reference to Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos. “I have a lot of respect for him but it’s a lot of market share, so we’ll have to see what happens.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the proposed merger “looks like an anti-monopoly nightmare,” in a statement released in December.
She added, “A Netflix-Warner Bros. would create one massive media giant with control of close to half of the streaming market — threatening to force Americans into higher subscription prices and fewer choices over what and how they watch, while putting American workers at risk."
Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., said, “Americans don’t like these mergers. They don’t want a few giant companies controlling what they see and what they hear,” per The Hill.
“We want choices, more choices. When these companies merge, things get better for the people at the top over and over again and worse for the rest of us.”