An aerial view of the Paramount logo on the water tower at Paramount Studios on February 23, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
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Discovery of Warner Bros. said on Tuesday that it had received a higher buyout offer from Paramount Skydance and will consider the new offer under the terms of its existing agreement with Netflix.
Last week, WBD announced it would re-engage Paramount in deal negotiations as part of a seven-day waiver from Netflix. WBD and Netflix have reached an agreement to sell the former media group’s studio and streaming businesses to the streamer. Paramount is looking to buy out all of WBD.
“Following engagement with PSKY during the seven-day limited waiver period, we have received a revised proposal from PSKY to acquire WBD, which we are reviewing in consultation with our financial and legal advisors,” WBD said in a statement. “We will update our shareholders following the Board’s review. The Netflix merger agreement remains in effect and the Board continues to recommend the Netflix transaction. WBD shareholders are advised not to take any action at this time with respect to PSKY’s amended tender offer.”
Paramount confirmed in a statement that it had submitted a revised offer and said it would continue with its previously announced tender offer while WBD’s board of directors reviewed both deals.
If WBD deems Paramount’s new offer superior, Netflix will have four days to improve its previously agreed offer. Netflix agreed to acquire WBD’s studio and streaming assets for $27.75 per share in December, valuing the assets at approximately $72 billion, for a total enterprise value of approximately $82.7 billion.
Paramount then launched a hostile tender offer to WBD shareholders for $30 per share for all of WBD, which includes linear cable networks such as CNN, TBS, HGTV and TNT and digital assets including Bleacher Report and House of Highlights.
If WBD concludes that Paramount’s new offer is superior and Netflix does not change its offer, Netflix will receive a breakup fee of $2.8 billion. Paramount agreed to finance these costs under a previously modified hostile offer.
A combined Paramount-WBD would bring together HBO Max with Paramount+ and merge two of the five largest movie studios by revenue: Warner Bros. and Paramount Skydance Studios. It would also consolidate CNN and CBS News under a single ownership structure.
The Netflix-WBD deal as well as a possible Paramount-WBD merger would require approval from U.S. and European regulatory authorities to be finalized, and both deals have raised antitrust concerns among critics.
