Paramount's Bold Move to Outbid Netflix for Warner Bros Discovery

Mon Dec 08 2025 21:00:03 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

In a competitive bid, Paramount Skydance offers $30 per share to acquire Warner Bros Discovery, challenging Netflix's recent winning bid worth $83 billion.

Paramount Skydance has entered a heated bidding war to acquire Warner Bros Discovery, with a direct offer of $30 per share, outpacing Netflix's previously announced deal. This aggressive move aims to position Paramount favorably amidst rising competition in the media landscape. Concerns regarding media consolidation and competition regulations loom as stakeholders analyze the potential implications of such a takeover.

Paramount Skydance has made another offer to buy Warner Bros Discovery as it seeks to trump a rival plan from Netflix to buy the company's studio and streaming networks.

Paramount, which is backed by the billionaire Ellison family, said it was making a direct offer to shareholders of $30 per share to scoop up the whole of Warner Bros, including its traditional television networks.

It said its proposal was a superior alternative to Netflix's, delivering more cash upfront to shareholders and greater prospects of approval by regulators.

President Donald Trump has indicated that there could be a problem with Netflix's purchase, pointing to competition concerns given the size of the companies.

The hostile bid from Paramount, a smaller player than Netflix known for brands such as CBS News, Nickelodeon, and Mission Impossible, is the latest twist in a saga that started a few months ago when Paramount began submitting offers to buy Warner Bros.

That eventually prompted Warner Bros, owner of HBO and classics from Looney Tunes to Harry Potter, to formally open a bidding process.

Warner Bros declared Netflix the winner of that auction on Friday, announcing a deal that valued its studio and streaming networks, including HBO, at about $83 billion, including its debt.

It said the sale would proceed after a planned spin-off of other parts of Warner Brothers' business, including CNN, into an independent company.

Paramount's offer values the entire company at $108.4 billion, which it claims is a better deal.

In an interview on CNBC, Mr. Ellison also discussed his plan's benefits for the media industry, arguing that Netflix's takeover would give one firm too much power over actors and others in the industry.

It's a horrible deal for Hollywood, he said.

Mr. Ellison mentioned having great conversations with Trump about the deal and expressed confidence that the president cares about competition.

Any takeover is expected to face scrutiny from competition regulators in the US and Europe.

Analysts noted that Netflix's plan would likely raise concerns about dominance in streaming, while Paramount's proposal would prompt a review of the impact on advertisers and local television distributors, given the power of a combined company over sports and children's networks.

Paramount had been seen by many on Wall Street as a strong suitor for Warner Bros, as the relationship between David and Larry Ellison, both Republican megadonors, and Trump was expected to ease the process.

Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is among the financial partners Paramount is working with as part of the deal, according to paperwork submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Paramount's plan to buy all of Warner Bros was seen as a chance to achieve both scale and potential cost-savings, putting the traditional television networks owned by both companies on a better footing.

Mr. Ellison criticized Warner Bros' plan to spin off its traditional networks into an independent company, predicting it would lead to failure and prove to be a mistake for shareholders.

I think [its shares are] going to be worth a lot less than people are claiming, he said.

Shares in Warner Bros jumped more than 6% in opening trade on Monday, while Paramount shares were also up.

Shares in Netflix, however, dropped more than 3%.

Netflix is the biggest streaming company in the world, with over 300 million subscribers. It expressed confidence in the takeover, believing it would help supercharge its business and win approval from regulators.

Analysts suggested that the move was also defensive, designed to prevent rivals from acquiring Warner Bros' extensive content library.

More than 70% of HBO Max subscribers in the US also subscribe to Netflix, according to analysts, indicating potential overlaps that could affect future competition.

Ben Barringer, head of technology research at Quilter Cheviot, said the deal appeared to make more sense for Paramount, as Netflix viewed it merely as a nice-to-have acquisition.

Paramount ultimately needs this deal more than Netflix, he stated, pointing out that Paramount remains a legacy entertainment provider struggling to gain the necessary scale for today's industry.