A deal to acquire parts or all of Warner Bros. Discovery could be made near-term, with Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix all reportedly entering second-round bids.
Dollar amounts haven’t been specified and potential sale prices are a bit hard to compare, with Paramount said to be seeking the whole WBD enterprise and Comcast and Netflix each pursuing studio and streaming assets.
Here’s an update on the bids based on multiple published reports:
Paramount Skydance: Closing on his $8 billion purchase of Paramount just four months ago, David Ellison’s Paramount rendered an improved offer for WBD this week. The second-round bid is backed not just by the domestic forces of the Ellison family, RedBird Capital and Apollo Global Management, but also Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), according to Variety. As of last month, WBD reportedly wanted Paramount to sweeten its bid from $23.50 a share to $30 a share, which would value the entire WBD enterprise at around $74 billion.
Comcast: The Philadelphia-headquartered cable giant’s second bid reportedly includes cash and stock. Comcast is focused only on WBD’s movie and TV studios, and its streaming platforms, according to the Wall Street Journal, but not the conglomerate’s cable TV channels. (Notably, WBD had been planning and is still evaluating a split of the company itself along these same lines, while also considering potential sale bids). Comcast’s proposal could involve its NBCUniversal media unit being combined with WBD’s non-linear assets. Comcast spun out its own linear networks via Versant. WBD’s cable channels, meanwhile, host Major League Baseball and NHL games, the French Open tennis tournament, half of the NCAA’s March Madness men’s hoops tournament, and several College Football Playoff games.
Netflix: After leaning on stock in its first bid, Netflix reportedly came back Monday with a primarily cash offer for WBD’s non-linear-TV assets, per the WSJ. Unlike Paramount and Comcast, Netflix has long demurred the global box office as a meaningful revenue stream. It’s unclear what Netflix would do strategically with the fabled Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, but it’s worth noting that the WBD film unit has had strong year so far at the box office under Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. Like Comcast, Netflix is reported to be disfavored by the Trump administration, which will have influence on the regulatory outcome of any WBD deal.
WBD is reported to be currently mulling offers as bidders wait to hear back. The WBD board might also seek further sweetened third-round bids from suitors but that is unclear.
If a deal is ultimately agreed upon, it will mark the third time the company built around the venerable Warner Bros. studio business has been sold in a period of just over seven years. AT&T closed on its $85.4 billion purchase of Time Warner Inc. in June 2018, before spinning off the rebranded WarnerMedia in a sale that combined it with Discovery in April 2022 to form today’s Warner Bros. Discovery.