Paramount Skydance has crashed into the middle of Hollywood’s biggest deal in years, launching a hostile all cash offer to buy all of Warner Bros Discovery for 30 dollars a share. The bid values Warner Bros Discovery at about 108.4 billion dollars and is aimed squarely at blowing up Netflix’s recently announced agreement to buy Warner’s studios and streaming arm.
What Paramount Is Offering
Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery announced their deal on 5 December. Netflix agreed to buy Warner’s film and TV studios, HBO, HBO Max and DC for 72 billion dollars in equity value, or about 82.7 billion dollars including debt. That works out to 27.75 dollars a share, paid as 23.25 dollars in cash plus about 4.50 dollars in Netflix stock.
Paramount Skydance is now offering 30 dollars a share, all in cash, which lifts the overall value of Warner Bros Discovery to about 108.4 billion dollars. Because there is no stock component, Warner shareholders would walk away with roughly 18 billion dollars more cash than they would under the Netflix deal.
There is also a structural difference. Netflix is only buying Warner’s studios and streaming division, with the cable networks, like CNN and Discovery, set to be spun off into a separate company. Paramount wants everything in one shot, including those linear networks, TNT Sports, and the rest of Warner’s portfolio.
Who Is Bankrolling Paramount’s Bid
A huge part of this story is where the money is coming from. Paramount Skydance’s bid is pitched as “100 percent cash,” and the financing is spread across debt and equity:
- Debt financing, reportedly around 54 billion dollars, from Bank of America, Citigroup and Apollo Global Management.
- Equity from the Ellison family, led by Oracle co founder Larry Ellison, backing his son David Ellison, who runs Paramount Skydance.
- RedBird Capital Partners as a major equity partner.
- Sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi contributing significant capital.
- Jared Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners involved as another equity backer, with some reports also mentioning Tencent among the contributors.
Paramount is stressing that these investors would not receive governance rights, which it argues keeps the deal outside the scope of certain foreign investment reviews and helps present the offer as “cleaner” and more straightforward than Netflix’s cash and stock structure.
Why This Turned Hostile
Paramount did not start hostile. Throughout 2025, it made a series of friendly offers for Warner Bros Discovery at lower share prices, which the Warner board rejected. In November, as Warner formally invited bids, Paramount, Netflix and Comcast all came to the table. By early December, the Warner board chose Netflix and signed a definitive agreement for the studios and streaming assets.
Once that happened, Paramount changed tactics. It now argues that Warner’s board never fully engaged with its richer all cash offer and failed to maximize value for shareholders. The hostile tender offer is Paramount going directly to those shareholders and asking them to sell their stock to Paramount at 30 dollars a share, regardless of what the board prefers.
Complicating things further are huge breakup fees attached to the Netflix deal. If regulators or other issues kill the Netflix acquisition, Netflix reportedly owes Warner Bros Discovery about 5.8 billion dollars. If Warner walks away to take a different deal, it owes Netflix roughly 2.8 billion dollars. That is a lot of money hanging in the balance, and it raises the stakes on any decision to switch horses mid race.
The Regulatory Fight And Streaming Stakes
Paramount’s pitch is not just about price. It is also about politics and antitrust. Netflix plus Warner’s studios and HBO Max would instantly create a streaming giant with an enormous share of subscribers worldwide. Analysts and unions have already warned that such a combination could concentrate too much power in one company, squeeze workers, and weaken theatrical releases.
Paramount argues that its own deal should be easier to clear. Instead of giving more scale to the largest streamer, it would be combining two more traditional media groups and then trying to build a stronger challenger to Netflix, Disney and Amazon. Whether regulators see it that way is an open question, since this would still be a merger of two very large TV and streaming players.
The fight has already drawn political attention, with senior lawmakers and the White House signaling that both deals will face heavy scrutiny. Netflix’s agreement assumes a 12 to 18 month regulatory review. Paramount is promising a faster, cleaner process, but that is ultimately up to regulators in the United States and abroad.
What It Could Mean For Viewers And Workers
For viewers, this battle decides who controls some of the biggest brands in entertainment: DC, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, HBO’s prestige library, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, TNT Sports and more. If Netflix wins, many of those brands would sit inside the Netflix ecosystem, with the linear networks spun off separately. If Paramount wins, HBO and Warner’s studios would likely be tied more closely to Paramount Plus, CBS, and a big cable portfolio that includes CNN and Discovery.
For workers and creators, both paths involve a lot of risk. More consolidation usually means cost cutting, overlapping departments, and pressure on wages and residuals. At the same time, whoever ends up with Warner will need hit films, series and games to make the math work, which could translate into big investments in the right projects. Unions are already warning that the Netflix deal in particular could hurt jobs and bargaining power, and they are likely to take a close look at Paramount’s proposal as well.
For now, Warner Bros Discovery is officially still on track to sell its studios and streaming division to Netflix. Paramount’s hostile bid throws that plan into doubt and hands Warner’s shareholders a very public choice between a cash rich, debt heavy offer from Paramount Skydance and a slower, more uncertain but potentially transformational marriage with Netflix.
gfpods.com 
Leave a comment