Warner Bros. Discovery has received binding second-round bids from Netflix, Paramount Skydance and Comcast, including a mostly cash offer from Netflix and an all-cash proposal from Paramount, deepening a takeover battle that could reconfigure Hollywood’s century-old studio lineup.
People familiar with the process say bankers for all three suitors worked through the Thanksgiving weekend to upgrade their offers. Netflix is assembling a bridge loan worth tens of billions of dollars to support a majority-cash bid for Warner’s studio and streaming assets. Paramount’s offer, backed by Apollo Global Management and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, targets the entire company at a per-share price around the mid-$20s. Comcast’s bid focuses on the film and TV studio and HBO’s streaming business rather than cable networks.
These bids are binding, giving Warner Bros. Discovery’s board the ability to approve a deal quickly if terms meet its expectations, though advisers have signaled they remain open to another round if the numbers fall short. The company earlier rejected a mostly cash offer from Paramount that valued Warner near $60 billion, and publicly committed to reviewing “strategic options” once unsolicited approaches arrived this autumn.
The auction runs alongside Warner’s plan to split itself into two publicly traded entities by 2026: a studio-and-streaming company built around Warner Bros. and HBO Max, and a separate cable group, Discovery Global, housing CNN, HGTV, TLC and other channels. Netflix and Comcast have shown interest in the studio-streaming side, while Paramount has pressed for an all-in acquisition, a structure that would scrap the planned break-up and fold both film and cable brands under the Ellison-led group.
Analysts frame the sale as part of a broader reckoning for mid-sized legacy media firms squeezed between streaming leaders and deep-pocketed tech players. One major bank’s media team wrote that Warner’s auction reflects the reality that traditional studios struggle to match the economics of global platforms like Netflix and Amazon. The deal talks follow Skydance’s $8.4 billion merger with Paramount Global and come as Warner continues to carry heavy debt from Discovery’s $43 billion purchase of WarnerMedia in 2022, raising fears of fresh layoffs across an industry already hit by cost-cutting.
Warner’s board aims to identify a preferred buyer before the winter holidays, with advisers suggesting the auction could wrap by late December, while regulatory scrutiny from the Justice Department and other agencies looms over any combination involving HBO, CNN and major broadcast or cable competitors. Warner Bros. Discovery shares have surged since word of the sale process surfaced in September, reflecting investor bets that the winning offer will mark a defining media deal of the decade.
