After Netflix, Paramount Makes Bid To Buy Warner Bros Discovery

Paramount Skydance has offered to buy Warner Bros Discovery against Netflix’s plan to buy the company’s studio and streaming networks.

BBC quoted Paramount, which is backed by the billionaire Ellison family,

saying it was making a direct offer to shareholders of $30 per share to scoop up the whole of Warner Bros, including its traditional television networks.

It stated that its proposal was a “superior alternative” to Netflix.

“We’re sitting on Wall Street, where cash is still king,” Ellison told CNBC in an interview Monday. “We are offering shareholders $17.6 billion more cash than the deal they currently have signed up with Netflix. And we believe when they see what is currently in our offer, then that’s what they’ll vote for.”

According to CNN, Paramount offered $30 per share in an all-cash deal for the entire company, while Netflix offered $27.75 for Warner Bros. and HBO — $23.25 per share in cash and $4.50 in stock. However, Paramount, unlike Netflix, is seeking to buy WBD in its entirety.

“WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company,” Ellison said in a statement. “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.”

Previously, US President Donald Trump said “there could be a problem” with Netflix purchasing Warner Bros Discovery, flagging concerns over competition given the size of the companies.

On Sunday, Trump said the streaming giant already commands “a very large market share,” adding that the acquisition “could be a problem” for regulators assessing its impact on competition.

He made it clear that he intends to play a role in the outcome, remarking, “I’ll be involved in that decision”.