Paramount Launches $108.4B All-Cash Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery
Paramount — part of Skydance Corporation — today announced an all-cash tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) for $30.00 per share, valuing the company at an enterprise value of $108.4 billion. The offer covers WBD’s full assets, including its Global Networks business.
Paramount argues its proposal delivers $18 billion more in cash to shareholders than the existing offer from Netflix, which values WBD at $82.7 billion under a mixed cash-and-equity structure. Paramount contends Netflix’s deal carries greater regulatory risk, associated with becoming a combined dominant player in SVOD markets, and exposes shareholders to significant uncertainty in the trading value of the spun-off Global Networks entity.
“This offer gives WBD shareholders the certainty and value they deserve,” said David Ellison, Paramount’s Chairman and CEO. “A cash-only deal removes the regulatory, execution, and valuation risks embedded in the Netflix proposal.” Paramount noted that despite delivering six offers over 12 weeks, WBD’s board never meaningfully engaged. With this tender, Paramount hopes shareholders will have the opportunity to decide for themselves.
Paramount also emphasized strategic benefits of a combined company: enhanced creative scale, a commitment to maintaining theatrical production and distribution, and a fortified streaming and direct-to-consumer footprint. They pledged to support both Paramount and WBD studios, boost content investment, and support linear networks — while driving cost synergies of more than $6 billion, on top of the company’s existing transformation efficiencies.
Structured to close without financing contingencies, the offer is backed by committed equity from Skydance and $54 billion in debt financing from a consortium led by Bank of America, Citi, and Apollo. Legal counsel is being provided by top-tier firms, and regulators will receive a premerger filing under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.
Paramount, part of Skydance Corporation, announced an all-cash tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Warner Bros. Discovery for $30.00 per share, valuing the company at an enterprise value of $108.4 billion. The offer covers WBD’s full assets, including its Global Networks business.
Paramount argues its proposal delivers $18 billion more in cash to shareholders than the existing offer from Netflix, which values WBD at $82.7 billion under a mixed cash-and-equity structure. Paramount contends Netflix’s deal carries greater regulatory risk, associated with becoming a combined dominant player in SVOD markets, and exposes shareholders to significant uncertainty in the trading value of the spun-off Global Networks entity.
“This offer gives WBD shareholders the certainty and value they deserve,” said David Ellison, Paramount’s Chairman and CEO. “A cash-only deal removes the regulatory, execution, and valuation risks embedded in the Netflix proposal.” Paramount noted that despite delivering six offers over 12 weeks, WBD’s board never meaningfully engaged. With this tender, Paramount hopes shareholders will have the opportunity to decide for themselves.
Paramount also emphasized strategic benefits of a combined company: enhanced creative scale, a commitment to maintaining theatrical production and distribution, and a fortified streaming and direct-to-consumer footprint. They pledged to support both Paramount and WBD studios, boost content investment, and support linear networks while driving cost synergies of more than $6 billion, on top of the company’s existing transformation efficiencies.
Structured to close without financing contingencies, the offer is backed by committed equity from Skydance and $54 billion in debt financing from a consortium led by Bank of America, Citi, and Apollo.