WBD says Paramount makes higher bid, board will weigh offer against Netflix deal
An aerial view of the Paramount logo on the water tower at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California on February 23, 2026.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Warner Bros. Discovery He said he received a higher buyout offer on Tuesday Paramount Skydance and review the new offer against the terms of the existing agreement netflix.
Last week, WBD announced it would re-engage Paramount in deal talks under a seven-day waiver from Netflix. WBD and Netflix have an agreement to sell the former media group’s studio and streaming businesses to the broadcaster. Paramount wants to buy all of WBD.
“Following discussions with PSKY during the seven-day limited waiver period, we have received a revised PSKY proposal to acquire WBD and are reviewing it in consultation with our financial and legal advisors,” WBD said. expression. “Following the Board’s review, we will notify our shareholders. The Netflix merger agreement remains in force and the Board continues to recommend in favor of the Netflix transaction. WBD shareholders are advised not to take any action at this time with respect to the amended PSKY tender offer.”
If WBD thinks the new Paramount offer is superior, Netflix will have four days to improve its previously agreed-upon offer. Netflix agreed to acquire WBD’s studio and streaming assets in December for $27.75 per share; assets were valued at approximately US$72 billion, making total enterprise value approximately US$82.7 billion.
Paramount then initiated a hostile tender offer to WBD shareholders at $30 per share for all of WBD, which includes linear cable networks such as CNN, TBS, HGTV and TNT, and digital assets such as Bleacher Report and House of Highlights.
If WBD concludes that Paramount’s new offer is superior and Netflix does not change its offer, Netflix will receive a $2.8 billion breakup fee. Paramount previously agreed to finance the fee as part of an amended hostile bid.
The Paramount-WBD combination will bring together HBO Max with Paramount+ and Warner Bros., two of the five largest movie studios by revenue. and Paramount will merge Skydance Studios. This would also bring CNN and CBS News under a single ownership structure.
Both the Netflix-WBD deal and a potential Paramount-WBD merger need approval from U.S. and European regulators to complete, and both deals have raised antitrust concerns among critics.
