It’s the identical bid that Warner Brothers rejected in favour of the provide from Netflix final week.
Printed On 8 Dec 2025
Paramount has gone hostile in its bid for Warner Bros Discovery, difficult Netflix, which reached a $72bn takeover deal with the corporate simply days in the past.
Paramount mentioned on Monday that it’s going straight to Warner Bros shareholders with a bid price about $74.4bn, or $30 per share in money. Not like Netflix, it’s also providing to purchase the cable belongings of Warner Bros, and asking shareholders of the corporate to reject the Netflix bid.
Really helpful Tales
listing of 4 objectsfinish of listing
It mentioned its provide is price about $18bn greater than the competing bid from Netflix, which it says is predicated on an “illusory potential valuation” of these cable belongings.
It’s the identical bid that Warner Bros rejected in favour of the provide from Netflix in a merger that might alter the US leisure panorama.
Paramount criticised the Netflix provide, saying it “exposes WBD shareholders to a protracted multi-jurisdictional regulatory clearance course of with an unsure final result together with a fancy and unstable mixture of fairness and money”.
Paramount mentioned it had submitted six proposals to Warner Bros Discovery over a 12-week interval.
“We consider our provide will create a stronger Hollywood. It’s in one of the best pursuits of the inventive group, shoppers and the movie show trade,” Paramount Chairman and CEO David Ellison mentioned in a press release. “We consider they are going to profit from the improved competitors, larger content material spend and theatrical launch output, and a larger variety of motion pictures in theaters because of our proposed transaction.”
Trump affect
On Friday, Netflix struck a deal to purchase Warner Bros Discovery, the Hollywood big behind Harry Potter and HBO Max. The money and inventory deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a complete enterprise worth of $82.7bn, together with debt. The transaction is anticipated to shut within the subsequent 12 to 18 months, after Warner completes the beforehand introduced separation of its cable operations. Not included within the deal are networks equivalent to CNN and Discovery.
However US President Donald Trump mentioned on Sunday that the deal struck by Netflix to purchase Warner Bros Discovery “may very well be an issue” due to the dimensions of the mixed market share.
The Republican president mentioned he can be concerned within the choice about whether or not the federal authorities ought to approve the $72bn deal.
Usha Haley, a Wichita State College professor who specialises in worldwide enterprise technique, mentioned Paramount’s ties to Trump are notable. Paramount CEO David Ellison is the son of longtime Trump supporter Larry Ellison, the world’s second-richest individual.
“He mentioned he’s going to be concerned within the choice. We must always take him at face worth,” Haley mentioned of Trump. “For him, it’s simply larger management over the media.”
In October, Paramount mentioned it had purchased the information and commentary web site The Free Press and put in its founder, Bari Weiss, a conservative opinion author, because the editor-in-chief of CBS Information, saying it believes the nation longs for information that’s balanced and fact-based.
It was a daring step for the tv community of Walter Cronkite, Dan Reasonably and 60 Minutes, lengthy considered by many conservatives because the personification of a liberal media institution. The community positioned somebody in a management position who has developed a repute for resisting orthodoxy and preventing “woke” tradition.
Paramount’s tender provide is about to run out on January 8, 2026, except it’s prolonged.
Shares of Warner Bros and Paramount jumped between 5 p.c and 6 p.c on the opening bell on Monday. Shares of Netflix edged decrease.
