Paramount Skydance has made a $108.4 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery as it seeks to trump Netflix’s deal for the Hollywood entertainment group.
Paramount, which is led by David Ellison, son of the Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison — the world’’s second-richest man with a fortune of $270 billion — who has said it would approach Warner Bros shareholders directly with an offer of $30 per share in cash for the entire company.
The Paramount bid is also backed by Affinity Partners, the investment company formed by Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, as well as $24 billion in financing from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
The bid threatens to derail an $83 billion offer from Netflix to buy Warner Bros’ TV and film assets that involves $23.25 in cash and about $4.50 in Netflix stock per share, valuing Warner at $27.75 a share. Netflix has also offered Warner Bros Discovery a break-up fee of $5.8 billion if its deal collapses.
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Shares in Paramount closed up 9 per cent after the bid was disclosed. Shares in Warner Bros rose 4.4 per cent. Netflix shares retreated 3.4 per cent.
Ellison said Warner Bros’ shareholders “deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer” after his company failed with its bid.
Paul Giamatti and Peyton List at the CCXP Sao Paulo 2025 at Expo Sao Paulo this month
MAURICIO SANTANA/GETTY IMAGES FOR PARAMOUNT+
Ellison added: “Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros Discovery board of directors in private, provides superior value and a more certain and quicker path to completion.”
Paramount’s biggest box office hits include Titanic, which was the highest-grossing film produced by the media group, as well as the Transformers franchise, the Mission: Impossible films and Top Gun: Maverick.
Under Paramount’s bid, the company would take on Warner Bros’ TV and film assets as well as its Global Networks linear cable business, which comprises a number of entertainment, sports and news television brands including CNN, TNT Sports in the US, and the Discovery+ streaming service.
Warner Bros has been behind some of the biggest cinema hits including the Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings series, as well as other film classics such as The Shining, Blade Runner, Casablanca, and Goodfellas.
Warner Bros’ classic Casablanca with Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart
WARNER BROTHERS/GETTY IMAGES
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In its statement, Paramount said Netflix’s deal faced “execution risk” because the streaming company had “never undertaken large-scale acquisitions”.
Ellison said: “We believe the Warner Bros Discovery board of directors is pursuing an inferior proposal that exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business, and a challenging regulatory approval process.
“We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximise the value of their shares.”
Paramount’s offer came after President Trump said Netflix’s deal for Warner Bros “could be a problem” after concerns were raised about the market power that the streaming giant could secure with its $83 billion deal.
Larry Ellison, father of the Paramount head, David Ellison, has strong ties with President Trump, who has said he will be “involved” in the decision over the Netflix takeover
ANDREW HARNIK/GETTY IMAGES
In documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Paramount revealed its bid was receiving funding from Affinity Partners, the private equity firm led by Kushner, husband of the Ivanka Trump, Trump’s daughter. The takeover is also backed by funding from three sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and RedBird Capital, the US private equity firm.
The filings stated Warner Bros had expressed concerns about Tencent, the Chinese technology firm, providing funding for the deal, and that Paramount submitted a revised proposal confirming that Tencent “would no longer be an equity financing source”. The revised equity funding was accompanied by new debt financing with Bank of America, Citi and Apollo Capital Management worth a total $54 billion.
In a letter to Warner Bros’ directors, David Ellison said: “The Ellison family and RedBird have collectively committed to backstop 100 per cent of the $40.7 billion of equity capital required for the transaction…Tencent will no longer be a financing partner in the transaction.
“Our other outside financing partners — the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, L’imad Holding Company PJSC of Abu Dhabi, the Qatar Investment Authority Qatar and Affinity Partners — have agreed to forgo any governance rights– including board representation – associated with their non-voting equity investments.”
Trump said at an awards event on Sunday that he would be “involved” in any decision over Netflix’s bid. Netflix is the world’s largest streaming service and the deal would see it take control of HBO Max, a rival behind shows such as The White Lotus and Euphoria.
Netflix’s bid was criticised by The Writers Guild of America, a union representing scriptwriters, which said that the deal could “eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers and reduce the volume and diversity of content for all viewers”.
Comcast, owner of NBC Universal, was also bidding in the formal auction for Warner Bros, which held first-round bids on November 20.