Paramount Launches $108B Hostile Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery
The all-cash offer challenges Netflix's existing $82.7B deal for WBD's studio assets, igniting a fierce battle for media supremacy.
Paramount Global, in a dramatic escalation of the media industry's consolidation battle, has launched a $108.4 billion all-cash hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. The unsolicited offer, announced Monday, aims to derail a previously agreed-upon $82.7 billion deal for Netflix to acquire WBD's coveted studio and streaming assets.
The move sets the stage for a high-stakes confrontation between a legacy media company and the world's largest streaming service, with the future of iconic assets like HBO, CNN, and the Warner Bros. film studio hanging in the balance. Warner Bros. Discovery shares surged over 4.4% to $27.23 in morning trading on the news, while Netflix shares fell 3.4%.
Paramount's offer, valued at $30 per share, targets the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery. This contrasts sharply with Netflix's more surgical cash-and-stock agreement to purchase only the high-profile content divisions. In a direct challenge to his rival, Paramount's David Ellison argued his company's proposal is a "superior all-cash offer" that provides a "more certain and quicker path to completion" for shareholders, according to a report in The Guardian.
Investor reaction highlighted the David-and-Goliath nature of the bid. Paramount, with a market capitalization of roughly $7 billion, saw its stock rise a modest 0.7%. The ambitious offer is reportedly backed by a consortium of outside funders, including Affinity Partners, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and the Qatar Investment Authority. In contrast, Netflix, valued at over $424 billion, has the financial might to engage in a bidding war should it choose.
In a statement, Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed it had received the unsolicited proposal and said its board would "carefully review and consider" the bid. The company has not yet withdrawn its recommendation for the existing Netflix deal. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos projected confidence, dismissing the Paramount move as "totally expected" and stating, "We have a deal done, and we are really happy with the deal. We're super confident we are going to get it across," he told analysts.
The rival proposals underscore two divergent strategies for survival in the hyper-competitive streaming era. Netflix's bid aims to absorb a premier content library to solidify its market dominance. Paramount's play, however, would combine its assets with all of WBD, including its linear television networks like the Discovery Channel and CNN. Ellison argued this combination would "dramatically improve cash flow and increase efficiencies" from traditional television to better fund the costly streaming wars.
Either combination would face intense regulatory scrutiny. Antitrust concerns have been mounting over consolidation in the media sector, and a merger of this scale would undoubtedly trigger a rigorous review by the Department of Justice. Paramount has argued its proposal is more "pro-consumer" and enhances competition, but any deal will face a challenging path in Washington. This high-stakes battle signals a new, aggressive phase in the reshaping of the global entertainment landscape, with the outcome poised to determine who will have the scale to compete for viewers in the decade ahead.