\n\tWord of revised bids by the three companies looking to acquire all or part of Warner Bros. Discovery surfaced Monday, the day designated by the media giant as the deadline for the next round of offers.<\/p>\n
\n\tParamount<\/a>, which has already had three proposals rejected by the WBD board, is staying in the hunt, as are Netflix<\/a> and Comcast<\/a>, multiple sources familiar with deal deliberations have told Deadline. For the bulk of WBD\u2019s empire, the change in ownership would be the fourth in a decade but likely the most consequential. While many pieces have yet to fall into place, and a lengthy period of regulatory review will follow, the future of the Warner Bros. movie and TV studios; HBO; streaming flagship HBO Max; DC; CNN and other storied assets is now in question as a turbulent year for the industry winds to a close.<\/p>\n \n\tThe financial and logistical details of the offers and the shape of the resulting company remain fluid. Bloomberg reported earlier Monday that Netflix submitted an all-cash offer for the studios-and-streamers division of WBD. Comcast and Netflix are interested in only the studios-and-streamers part, while Paramount\u2019s bid is for the entire company. <\/p>\n \n\tWall Street analysts, citing recent press reports, estimate that Warner Bros., HBO and the deep vault of franchises and library titles could be worth at least $70 billion. The market value of WBD, which currently includes linear TV networks like CNN, TNT and Discovery, was $59 billion at the end of Monday\u2019s trading day.<\/p>\n \n\tThe new bids are considered binding, but parties could still alter their offers, sources said. One participant said the private process being managed by WBD could involve an exclusive negotiating window with one of the suitors, though that wouldn\u2019t necessarily preclude the other parties from re-entering the fray. WBD CEO David Zaslav has reportedly expressed confidence that the M&A process could be wrapped up by the end of December. The companies pursuing WBD made full use of the Thanksgiving holiday, putting in long hours to fine-tune their latest offers, insiders said.<\/p>\n \n\tReps from WBD, Paramount, Comcast and Netflix declined to comment when contacted by Deadline.<\/p>\n \n\tWBD, which was formed in April 2022 from the merger of Discovery Communications and WarnerMedia, has been planning to formally separate into two companies if it doesn\u2019t receive acceptable terms from one of the bidders. The split would close by mid-2026, the company has said. The move is designed to enable a smoother acquisition path for potential buyers down the road. It is also a way to relieve the balance sheet of WBD of the burden of its declining linear TV portfolio. Comcast is close to finalizing the spinoff of most of its cable networks into a new company, Versant, with similar motivations.<\/p>\n \n\tWith reports swirling over the past two months, WBD has sought to keep the deal process out of public view. During the company\u2019s quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts in early November, Zaslav declined to address specifics<\/a> about the inbound interest, but did observe, \u201cIt\u2019s fair to say that we have an active process underway.\u201d<\/p>\n