Warner Bros Discovery is the target of a two-front acquisition battle. The board has a signed merger agreement with Netflix and it has told shareholders that the amended hostile tender from Paramount Skydance does not change that recommendation while it completes a formal review.
The offers on the table
Reports place Netflix’s offer value at about $72 billion for studio and streaming assets. Paramount Skydance is pushing an all cash $30 per share bid that totals roughly $180 billion and is designed to buy the entire company including legacy cable networks. Reuters notes board concerns about Paramount’s financing. Larry Ellison has now pledged more than $40 billion to back his son David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance play.
What Warner is doing on its own
Management spent the fall preparing a split that would separate cable networks into a new company called Discovery Global while studios and streaming remain with Warner Bros. The goal is a cleaner balance sheet and a simpler story for investors ahead of any transaction. The company ended the third quarter with about $34.5 billion dollars of gross debt, generated $700 million dollars of free cash flow in the quarter, and said it will prioritize debt paydown into year end.
Streaming and reach
Warner settled its NBA matching rights lawsuit with an agreement that preserves important NBA relationships and allows periodic ESPN use of Inside the NBA while compensating Turner for digital partnerships. Earlier in the year Disney, Fox, and Warner decided not to launch the Venu Sports joint venture, a sign that each company will focus on its existing sports platforms rather than a new shared service.
How the industry sees the brawl
Analysts frame the contest as a referendum on premium intellectual property and on who can scale profit in streaming. Barron’s reports that Netflix and Paramount Skydance are competing on different regulatory paths and that Disney could benefit by staying out of the fray while it leans into Hulu control and an ESPN direct app.
What to watch next
Three questions will decide the outcome. First, whether Warner’s board sticks with the Netflix agreement after reviewing the revised hostile tender. Second, whether Paramount Skydance can demonstrate final and durable financing for a bid of this size. Third, how regulators weigh consolidation in streaming and cable if either deal advances. Until those answers arrive, Warner’s own separation plan and cash generation give it room to maneuver while the bidders press their case.
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