Feb 10 (Reuters) - Paramount Skydance has enhanced its $30-per-share bid for Warner Bros Discovery by offering extra cash for each quarter if the deal fails to close.
The new 25-cent per share "ticking fee" will equal to about $650 million in cash each quarter between January 1, 2027, and the consummation of the Paramount deal, the company said on Tuesday.
Paramount also agreed to cover the breakup fee the HBO owner would owe Netflix if it walked away from their deal.
The move marks the latest chapter
in the race for assets that include Warner Bros' iconic film and TV studio and its vast library of movies and television shows.
Here is a timeline from the founding of Time Inc and Warner Bros to the company's latest breakup and potential sale.
Date Event
1922 Time Inc was founded by Henry Luce and
Briton Hadden to house Time magazine, a
weekly news publication that made world
affairs accessible to the average reader.
The first issue of Time magazine was
published in March 1923.
1923 Warner Bros was founded by brothers Harry,
Albert, Sam and Jack Warner as a film
studio in Hollywood. It revolutionized
cinema with the introduction of
synchronized sound in films.
1969 Kinney National Company, a conglomerate
that later transitioned into media, buys
Warner Bros-Seven Arts and later spins off
its non-media businesses.
1972 HBO is founded by Charles Dolan with
backing from Time. It was the first U.S.
subscription-based cable network, offering
uncut, commercial-free movies and live
sports, pioneering premium cable
television.
1990 Time Inc merges with Warner Communications
in a $14 billion deal, hailed as a
"marriage of content and distribution,"
creating Time Warner, then the largest
media company in the world.
1996 Time Warner merges with Turner
Broadcasting, gaining Cartoon Network, CNN,
TNT and a vast classic film library.
2000 Time Warner merges with AOL, forming AOL
Time Warner, the largest merger in history
at the time, aiming to merge traditional
and digital media.
2002 AOL Time Warner merger begins to unravel as
AOL's value collapses with the launch of an
SEC investigation, prompted by allegations
of accounting irregularities and inflated
revenue reports at AOL.
2003 CEO Steve Case resigns from AOL Time
Warner.
2004 Time Warner sells Warner Music to a private
equity group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. for
$2.6 billion.
2009 Time Warner fully spins off Time Warner
Cable, which had already been partially
separated in 2007, ending its role in cable
distribution.
2009 Time Warner spins off AOL.
2013 Time Warner spins off Time, its magazine
division, which includes Time, People,
Fortune and Sports Illustrated, marking its
formal exit from publishing.
2016 AT&T announces acquisition of Time
Warner for $85 billion.
2018 AT&T completes its acquisition of Time
Warner after regulator's approval, renaming
it WarnerMedia.
2021 AT&T announces it would spin off
WarnerMedia and merge it with Discovery Inc
to create a new standalone media company.
2022 WarnerMedia and Discovery complete their
merger in a $43 billion deal.
June 2025 Warner Bros Discovery announces it would
separate into two companies — one focusing
on streaming and studios businesses, while
the second will house its cable TV assets.
October 2025 Warner Bros Discovery's board rejects a
Paramount Skydance offer of nearly $60
billion, or $24 per share, a source
familiar with the matter exclusively tells
Reuters. The company says it is weighing a
potential sale amid interest from several
suitors.
November Axios reports that Warner Bros Discovery's
2025 board wants Paramount Skydance to sweeten
its bid to $30 per share, valuing the
company at $74.34 billion.
November Warner Bros Discovery receives preliminary
2025 buyout bids from Paramount Skydance,
Comcast and Netflix — who were asked to
improve their offers.
December Warner Bros Discovery receives a second
2025 round of bids, including a mostly cash
offer from Netflix.
December Paramount Skydance accuses Warner Bros
2025 Discovery of running an unfair sale process
that favors Netflix over other bidders,
CNBC reports, citing a letter sent by the
newly merged media company.
December Netflix is in exclusive talks
2025 to buy Warner Bros Discovery's film and
television studios along with its streaming
assets after offering $28 per share.
December Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros
2025 Discovery's film and TV studios and
streaming division for $72 billion, or
$27.75 per share.
December Paramount Skydance makes a hostile bid for
2025 Warner Bros Discovery in a deal valued at
$108.4 billion or $30 per share.
December Warner Bros Discovery's board rejects
2025 Paramount Skydance's hostile $108.4 billion
bid, saying it failed to provide adequate
financing assurances.
December Paramount Skydance amends its offer to buy
2025 Warner Bros Discovery to include a $40.4
billion personal guarantee from Larry
Ellison.
January 2026 Warner Bros Discovery rejects Paramount
Skydance's amended hostile bid despite
Larry Ellison's guarantee.
January 2026 Paramount Skydance files lawsuit to force
Warner Bros Discovery to disclose details
of its deal with Netflix and plans to
nominate directors to Warner Bros
Discovery's board.
January 2026 Netflix amends its bid to an all‑cash offer
for Warner Bros Discovery's studio and
streaming units and secures unanimous
approval from the Warner Bros board without
increasing the $82.7 billion purchase
price.
January 2026 Paramount Skydance extends its hostile
tender offer for Warner Bros Discovery to
February 20, seeking more time to win
investors.
U.S. senators
February grill
2026 Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos at
a hearing over how the company's
acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery will
affect competition in the entertainment
industry.
U.S. President Donald Trump
February says
2026 he will stay out of the
bidding war for Warner Bros Discovery, a
reversal from his
comments
late last year.
Paramount Skydance
February revises
2026 its $30-per-share all cash
offer for Warner Bros, adding a
25-cent-per-share fee for every quarter the
transaction does not close beyond December
31, 2026. Paramount also said it would fund
the $2.8 billion termination fee that
Warner Bros owes Netflix if the deal falls
through.
(Reporting by Kritika Lamba, Meghana Khare, Anhata Rooprai, and Arnav Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo, Arun Koyyur, Shinjini Ganguli and Maju Samuel)
