Paramount, Comcast, Netflix submit offers

Paramount Skydance, comcast And netflix Officially submitted takeover offers for Warner Bros. Discovery The deadline for first-round bids is approaching this week, according to people familiar with the matter.

Sources say NBCUniversal’s parent company, Comcast, is solely interested in Warner Bros. It said it was bidding for the film and streaming assets of its studio and HBO Max. The offer would see NBCUniversal become the parent company of WBD assets and would not involve a spinoff of NBCUniversal as some in the industry had predicted, one of the sources said.

Comcast is currently in the process of developing its cable network portfolio, which includes CNBC, but will retain NBCUniversal. Starting in January, the business unit will consist solely of the NBC broadcast network, Peacock streaming service, Universal movie studio and theme parks.

Comcast’s offer includes a clause that would allow WBD to spin off its own cable networks, including CNN and TNT Sports, at any time before the proposed acquisition closes, the person said.

Comcast Chairman and soon-to-be co-CEO Mike Cavanagh recently telegraphed on an earnings call that the acquisition of studio and broadcast assets would be complementary to NBCUniversal. Cavanagh also said the company believed a deal would be “feasible” in the context of the current regulatory environment.

Like Comcast, Netflix is ​​bidding only on movie and streaming assets, people familiar said.

Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance applied once again and placed fourth to date. Some said in recent days that Paramount Skydance and its advisors were deciding whether to submit an offer higher than the $23.50 per share offer that WBD rejected.

Netflix’s bid is also expected to be “disciplined,” one of the sources said. Details regarding the size of all three offers are not yet clear.

Warner Bros., one of the sources said. He said Discovery notified bidders that it had received the bids and would contact them again soon.

Warner Bros. Representatives for Discovery, Paramount, Netflix and Comcast declined to comment.

As CNBC previously reported, Warner Bros. Discovery aims to complete the sales process by mid-to-late December. Some said a new round of bidding was expected in the coming weeks.

Last month, Warner Bros. Discovery had announced that it was expanding a strategic review of its business to include a potential sale; Although it continues its plan to split into two separate entities: a movie studio and a streaming platform, Warner Bros. and Discovery Global, which will include the company’s pay TV networks.

Warner Bros. While Discovery’s spin-off continues, takeover interest from the newly merged Paramount Skydance has led WBD CEO David Zaslav and top officials to open a formal sale process.

If the bid for the studio and broadcast assets is successful, Discovery Global would move forward with its own subsidiary and current WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels would become CEO.

Paramount sent multiple letters to WBD’s board of directors explaining why the $23.50 per share offer for all of WBD’s assets was in the best interest of shareholders and the company.

WBD’s shares closed up 1% on Friday at $23.19 per share. The company’s share price has risen more than 20% since it was announced for sale in October.

Paramount CEO David Ellison recently met with Saudi-backed state funds about financing a potential transaction, but the talks were only preliminary, and Ellison and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, were ready to fully fund a transaction, people familiar with the matter said.

While Paramount is interested in striking a deal for all of WBD, the formal sale process has opened up the possibility of a buyer for only part of the legacy media company.

— CNBC’s David Faber contributed to this report.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become CNBC’s new parent company, based on Comcast’s planned Versant spinoff.