Paramount is making a hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery, challenging Netflix, which reached a $72 billion takeover deal with the company.
Paramount said on Monday that it is going straight to Warner Bros. shareholders with a $30 per share in cash offer for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its Global Networks segment, asking them to reject the deal with Netflix.
On Friday, Netflix struck a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max.
The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt. The transaction is expected to close in the next 12 to 18 months, after Warner completes its previously announced separation of its cable operations. Not included in the deal are networks such as CNN and Discovery.
But President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the deal struck by Netflix to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share.
On Monday, Paramount said WBD shareholders should decide.
“WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company,” Paramount CEO David Ellison said in a statement.
Streaming stakes rise
“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,” Ellison added.
Paramount CEO also played down the likelihood of Netflix winning regulatory approval.
“Allowing the No. 1 streaming service to combine with the No. 3 streaming service is anticompetitive,” Ellison said.
In late 2025, Paramount Skydance launched a $100B+ bid to buy all of Warner Bros. Discovery. Netflix countered and won the core assets (HBO, studios, DC) for $83B on Dec 5, blocking Paramount’s dream of a mega-merger.
It’s a watershed moment: Netflix would jump to ~40% US streaming share, trigger antitrust firestorms, while a furious Paramount fights back with hostile bids.
It is a deal observers say could redraw all of Hollywood.
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Source: TRT