Paramount has launched an audacious $108.4bn (£81bn) hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery, positioning itself as a rival suitor to Netflix, which secured a $72bn (£54bn) merger agreement with the entertainment conglomerate last Friday.
The media giant announced Monday it would circumvent WBD’s board of directors and appeal directly to shareholders with an all-cash offer of $30 (£22.50) per share—representing a significant premium over Netflix’s proposed deal. The move comes after Paramount claims six previous acquisition proposals submitted over 12 weeks were never “meaningfully” engaged with by WBD’s leadership.
Paramount’s bid values the entire Warner Bros Discovery enterprise at $108.4bn, including debt, and crucially offers to acquire the complete company rather than the partial structure outlined in the Netflix agreement. This includes WBD’s Global Networks division—home to channels like CNN—which would be excluded from the Netflix merger following a planned corporate split.
“WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company,” said David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount. “Our public offer provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion.”
Paramount characterized its proposal as “strategically and financially compelling,” emphasizing that its all-cash structure would deliver $18bn (£13.5bn) more in immediate cash value to shareholders compared to Netflix’s mixed cash-and-stock offer. The company also highlighted concerns about the “uncertain future trading value” of the Global Networks business and the “challenging regulatory approval process” facing the Netflix transaction.
Under the Netflix deal announced Friday, WBD would proceed with previously announced plans to separate its studio and streaming operations from its global networks division. The latter would become a standalone entity called Discovery Global before Netflix’s merger could be finalized—a complex restructuring process that could delay completion.
The competing bids arrive amid broader scrutiny of media consolidation. President Donald Trump injected uncertainty into the Netflix-WBD merger Sunday, suggesting the combined entity’s market share “could be a problem” and indicating he would be personally involved in regulatory decisions about the deal’s approval.
Warner Bros Discovery, the Hollywood powerhouse behind the “Harry Potter” franchise and HBO Max streaming service, now finds itself at the center of a high-stakes bidding war that could reshape the entertainment industry’s competitive landscape. The company’s board and shareholders face a critical decision between Netflix’s strategic vision and Paramount’s financial premium in the coming weeks.
