Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly considering reopening negotiations with Paramount amid its hostile takeover bid, according to Bloomberg, which could ignite a second bidding war between Paramount and Netflix.
Members of the WBD board are discussing whether Paramount’s enhanced offer could result in a superior deal compared with the company’s existing agreement with Netflix, Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw and Michelle F. Davis reported Sunday. The board hasn’t decided how to respond and may stick with Netflix, but this marks the first time the board has considered that Paramount’s offer could lead to a better deal or prompt Netflix to raise its bid.
The shift comes after Paramount sweetened its $30-per-share bid last week without actually raising the price. Paramount added a 25-cent-per-share quarterly “ticking fee” worth roughly $650 million per quarter starting in 2027 if the deal hasn’t closed. The company also agreed to cover the $2.8 billion breakup fee WBD would owe Netflix and pledged to eliminate $1.5 billion in financing costs tied to WBD’s debt refinancing.
Netflix announced an agreement to buy WBD’s streaming and studio assets for $27.75 per share, in an all-cash deal, in December. That deal would spin off WBD’s cable assets — including TNT Sports and CNN — into a separate company called Discovery Global. Paramount launched its hostile bid shortly after, arguing its $30-per-share offer for all of WBD was financially superior and had a clearer regulatory path.
Whoever wins the bidding war will decide the fate of one of the TNT Sports portfolio. If Netflix wins, TNT Sports will operate under Discovery Global as part of a cable spinoff, likely to pursue another acquisition shortly after being spun out. If Paramount wins, TNT Sports could combine with CBS Sports to create a major sports division rivaling ESPN’s live sports portfolio. Paramount already outbid competitors for UFC rights at $1.1 billion per year shortly after David Ellison’s takeover, and acquiring WBD would give the company NCAA Tournament games, College Football Playoff inventory, MLB and NHL postseason rights, NASCAR races, and the French Open.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.