Paramount has made a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery with an all-cash tender offer for $30 per share, representing an enterprise value of $108.4 billion.
The offer, per the Skydance-owned corporation, “provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion to WBD shareholders.”
Last week, Netflix formalized a deal to acquire Warner Bros. following its previously announced separation from the linear networks, which would be housed under Discovery Global.
Paramount’s rival bid directly to WBD shareholders will be backed by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital, with debt fully committed by Bank of America, Citi and Apollo.
The Paramount offer is for the entirely of the company, providing shareholders $18 billion more in cash than the Netflix deal, the company said. WBD’s board’s recommendation to take the Netflix deal “is based on an illusory prospective valuation of Global Networks that is unsupported by the business fundamentals and encumbered by high levels of financial leverage assigned to the entity.”
David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount, said: “WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company. Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors in private, provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion. We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process. We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximize the value of their shares.”
The $30 per share offer equates to a value of $108.4 billion, a 139% premium on the WBD stock price of $12.54 as of September 10, 2025. The Netflix deal consists of a mix of cash and stock.
Paramount expects a quick clearance of the deal, maintaining that it is “pro-consumer, while creating a strong champion for creative talent and consumer choice.”
Paramount maintains that the Netflix deal, creating an SVOD giant with a 43 percent global market share, with be subject to regulatory issues worldwide. “In many European Union countries, the Netflix transaction would combine the dominant SVOD player with the number two or strong number three competitor. The Netflix transaction creates a clear risk of higher prices for consumers, lower pay for content creators and talent and the destruction of American and international theatrical exhibitors. Netflix has never undertaken large-scale acquisitions, resulting in increased execution risk which WBD shareholders would have to endure.”
Paramount further maintains that WBD did not meaningfully engage with its six proposals over the last 12 weeks.
“We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood,” Ellison said. “It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry. We believe they will benefit from the enhanced competition, higher content spend and theatrical release output, and a greater number of movies in theaters as a result of our proposed transaction. We look forward to working to expeditiously deliver this opportunity so that all stakeholders can begin to capitalize on the benefits of the combined company.”
The Paramount offer is scheduled to expire January 8, 2026, unless extended.
