UPDATE: Warner Bros. Discovery has responded to the hostile bid and says it will “carefully review” the offer and issue a recommendation within 10 business days.
Meanwhile, Paramount is going full gung-ho today. The company has launched a site called “Stronger Hollywood” and is making its case to the public that, unlike Netflix, it will “satisfy the needs of the moviegoing public” by promising to release “30+ films annually” if it acquires Warner Bros.
As for how Paramount/Skydance managed to secure that $108 billion, their new offer is said to include $24 billion from wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, as well as from Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, according to an SEC filing by the company. They had previously denied reports that they were receiving investments from those groups.
Yet Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has responded by saying he is “super confident” the Warner Bros. deal will close for them and has promised to “protect jobs in the entertainment industry.”
EARLIER: Paramount is doing exactly what was suspected: trying to blow up the freshly announced Netflix–Warner Bros. deal with a full-on hostile takeover bid.
Just days after Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to a $72 billion sale to Netflix, Paramount has bypassed the board entirely and gone straight to shareholders with an offer valued at $108.4 billion — roughly $30 per share.
In its pitch, Paramount isn’t being subtle. The company argues that the “Netflix transaction provides Warner Bros. shareholders with inferior and uncertain value,” framing its own offer as both richer and far more straightforward. Their bid doesn’t carve up the company or hedge its future — it simply buys EVERYTHING.
And that’s the point, Paramount wants the whole Warner Bros. empire, including the TV assets Netflix was seeking. By blasting out an offer nearly $26 billion higher than Netflix’s $82.7 billion bid, Paramount is betting shareholders will choose guaranteed cash. The battle for Warner Bros. isn’t over; it’s just getting started.