Paramount Holds Firm on $30-Per-Share Offer as Warner Bros. Discovery Backs Netflix Deal
Paramount has confirmed it will not increase its $30-per-share takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) for now, despite the media company’s board rejecting the proposal in favour of its existing agreement with Netflix.
In a statement released on Thursday, Paramount insisted its offer remains the better option for shareholders, describing it as superior to WBD’s deal with Netflix. The company urged investors to back its bid and disregard the board’s recommendation.
The competing proposals have sparked a high-stakes battle for control of some of the entertainment industry’s biggest assets, including HBO, Warner Bros. studios and CNN. While Paramount is seeking to acquire the entire WBD business, Netflix’s deal covers only the company’s film and streaming divisions, excluding cable networks such as CNN.
Warner Bros. Discovery reiterated this week that its Netflix agreement offers greater certainty and lower risk, calling Paramount’s proposal inadequate and likening it to a risky leveraged buyout. The board warned that Paramount’s financing structure could jeopardise the deal’s completion.
Paramount chief executive David Ellison rejected those claims, arguing that his company’s offer delivers higher value and a faster path to closing the transaction. Paramount said its $30 cash offer clearly exceeds the implied per-share value of the Netflix deal, which it estimates at about $27.42.
A key point of disagreement centres on WBD’s cable television assets, which are set to be spun off into a new publicly traded company called Discovery Global later this year. While the Warner board maintains that the new company will have significant standalone value, Paramount has previously said it believes the assets are worth very little.
In its latest analysis, Paramount assigned a zero-dollar value to the cable business, citing recent weak market performance of similar assets, including Comcast’s newly spun-off cable company, Versant. Shares in Versant have dropped sharply since their debut earlier this week.
Market analysts believe Paramount could eventually increase its offer to win shareholder support, although no such move has been announced. Reuben Miller, head of antitrust at Dealreporter, said Netflix currently holds the advantage due to its signed agreement and regulatory progress, but suggested Paramount may return with a more compelling proposal.
For now, the standoff continues as both companies seek to convince investors that their deal offers the best future for Warner Bros. Discovery.
