Warner Bros. (WBD) Stock: Paramount Crashes Netflix Party With $108B Takeover Bid

TLDR

• Paramount Skydance offered $108.4 billion cash for Warner Bros. Discovery, outbidding Netflix’s $72 billion deal from Friday
• The $30 per share all-cash proposal is backed by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital, with Middle Eastern investors waiving governance rights
• Netflix’s deal splits WBD into two companies, while Paramount wants to buy everything in one transaction
• Trump voiced antitrust concerns about Netflix controlling a third of US streaming if that deal closes
• Paramount CEO David Ellison hinted the company could bid even higher than $30 per share

Paramount Skydance threw down a $108.4 billion gauntlet Monday. The all-cash offer for Warner Bros. Discovery values shares at $30 each, beating Netflix’s Friday announcement by a wide margin.

Warner Bros. Discovery stock climbed 7% on the news. Paramount shares gained over 6%. Netflix fell more than 4%.

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc., WBD

The timing is deliberate. Netflix agreed to acquire WBD’s studios and streaming assets for $72 billion just three days earlier. That deal valued shares at $27.75, mixing $23.35 cash with $4.50 in Netflix stock.

Paramount tried three times before to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. The company bid $58 billion in October at $20 per share. CEO David Zaslav rejected all previous offers as too low.

This time Paramount came prepared. The Ellison family and RedBird Capital committed to fund 100% of the $40.7 billion equity needed. Larry Ellison, Oracle’s founder and executive chairman, is backing his son David’s play.

Bank of America, Citi, and Apollo Global Management lined up $54 billion in debt financing. The structure is straightforward compared to earlier bids that relied on multiple funding sources.

Why This Deal Differs From Netflix’s Approach

Netflix’s plan splits Warner Bros. Discovery into pieces. The streaming company gets the film studios, TV production, HBO, and HBO Max. Everything else spins off into Discovery Global, a separate public company launching in mid-2026.

That spinoff includes CNN, TNT Sports, and Discovery Channel. Paramount CEO David Ellison values those assets at $1 per share. Warner Bros. Discovery executives privately estimate $3 per share.

Paramount wants the whole enchilada. One company, one transaction, no spinoffs.

Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds are involved in Paramount’s financing. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Abu Dhabi’s L’imad Holding Company, and Qatar’s Qatar Investment Authority committed equity. Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners joined them.

The twist: all agreed to zero governance rights. No board seats, no voting power. This structure keeps the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. out of the approval process.

Regulatory Concerns Cloud Both Deals

Netflix faces serious antitrust questions. A combined Netflix-WBD would control roughly one-third of US streaming activity, according to JustWatch data.

The Justice Department will review whether the Netflix merger concentrates too much market power. Both company boards approved the deal, but federal regulators get the final say.

Paramount positioned its offer as cleaner and more certain. The company argues Netflix exposes shareholders to stock volatility and a lengthy multi-country regulatory review with unclear outcomes.

Ellison sent a revised $30 per share bid on December 1 after Warner Bros. Discovery requested changes to earlier proposals. Zaslav never responded, according to Ellison, prompting Monday’s hostile approach directly to shareholders.

The Netflix deal valued WBD’s total assets at $72 billion. Paramount’s $108.4 billion offer represents a 50% premium. Ellison maintains Paramount can go higher still if needed to win shareholder support.

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