Paramount, a Skydance Corporation (NASDAQ: PSKY), has formally launched an all-cash tender offer to acquire 100 percent of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBD) at a price of $30.00 per share, escalating the battle for control of one of the world’s largest media companies and setting up a direct challenge to a competing transaction proposed by Netflix.
The offer, which values Warner Bros. Discovery at an enterprise value of approximately $108.4 billion, is structured as a cash-only acquisition and includes all of WBD’s businesses, including its Global Networks segment. Paramount said the bid represents a 139 percent premium to WBD’s undisturbed share price of $12.54 as of September 10, 2025.
In announcing the tender offer, Paramount positioned its proposal as a superior and more certain alternative to the Netflix transaction, which involves a mix of cash and stock and implies a lower overall valuation of approximately $82.7 billion, excluding a planned spin-off entity. Paramount argued that the Netflix deal exposes WBD shareholders to market volatility, execution risk, and prolonged regulatory uncertainty across multiple jurisdictions.
“WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company,” said David Ellison, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount. “Our public offer provides higher value and a faster, more certain path to completion. We believe the board is pursuing an inferior proposal that leaves shareholders exposed to uncertain equity value and a challenged regulatory process.”
Paramount said its offer delivers approximately $18 billion more in cash value to WBD shareholders than the Netflix proposal and avoids leaving investors with what it described as a highly leveraged and sub-scale Global Networks business. The company also criticized WBD’s board for favoring a transaction based on what it called an unrealistic valuation of linear television assets amid structural industry decline.
From a regulatory perspective, Paramount emphasized that its bid is pro-competitive and more likely to secure timely approval. The company argued that a Netflix-WBD combination would significantly increase concentration in the global streaming market, potentially giving Netflix control of roughly 43 percent of worldwide subscription video-on-demand subscribers. Such a combination, Paramount said, would face intense scrutiny in the United States, the European Union, and other major markets.
Paramount also highlighted that Netflix has limited experience executing large-scale acquisitions, which it characterized as an additional risk factor for WBD shareholders.
According to Paramount, it submitted six proposals to Warner Bros. Discovery over a 12-week period but failed to secure meaningful engagement from the board. By launching a tender offer, the company is now appealing directly to shareholders and urging WBD’s directors to reconsider their recommendation.
Beyond transaction mechanics, Paramount outlined a strategic vision for a combined company that it believes would reshape the global entertainment landscape. The merged entity would operate as a scaled Hollywood studio group, maintaining both Paramount and Warner Bros. studios while increasing investment in film and television production and prioritizing theatrical releases.
Paramount said it remains strongly committed to movie theaters and plans to expand theatrical output across both studio portfolios. It also sees significant upside in direct-to-consumer streaming by combining Paramount+ and HBO Max into a more competitive platform positioned to challenge Netflix, Amazon, and Disney.
The proposed combination would also create a broad and diversified sports rights portfolio, spanning the NFL, the Olympics, UFC, PGA Tour, NHL, NCAA basketball, major college football conferences, and the UEFA Champions League. Paramount said these assets could be distributed more efficiently across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms.
On the financial side, Paramount projects more than $6 billion in cost synergies from the merger, in addition to over $3 billion in standalone efficiencies already planned as part of its ongoing transformation. The company said the combined balance sheet would support higher long-term investment in content and technology, backed by strategic partnerships and a strong investor base.
The tender offer has been unanimously approved by Paramount’s board of directors and is scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m. New York City time on January 8, 2026, unless extended. The transaction is not subject to any financing condition and will be funded through new equity commitments and $54 billion in debt financing provided by Bank of America, Citi, and Apollo.
Paramount said it is filing the required documentation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and has initiated premerger notifications under U.S. antitrust law. Additional details for shareholders are available at StrongerHollywood.com.
If successful, the deal would mark one of the largest and most consequential media mergers in history, with significant implications for studios, streaming competition, theatrical distribution, and the global entertainment economy.
