Name: How Paramounts hostile bid for Warner Bros. compares to Netflix deal
Uploaded: 2025-12-09T01:23:03.404Z
Duration: 2 min 44 s
Description: Paramount Skydance, the parent company of CBS News, has launched a $108 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery just days after WBD said it had agreed to a nearly $83 billion deal with Netflix. Fortune business editor Nick Lichtenberg joins with analysis.

Paramount Skydance, the parent company of CBS News, has launched a $108 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery just days after WBD said it had agreed to a nearly $83 billion deal with Netflix. Fortune business editor Nick Lichtenberg joins with analysis.

California

Paramount Skydance has initiated a $108 billion hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, just days after Warner had agreed to an $83 billion deal with Netflix for its streaming and movie assets. Paramount's offer is for the entire company, including cable channels, and exceeds both the scope and value of Netflix's proposal.

Shareholders will ultimately decide which offer to accept, with Warner Bros. Discovery currently recommending the Netflix deal but set to review Paramount's bid before making a final recommendation by December 22. The process has raised questions about fairness, as Paramount alleges a lack of engagement from Warner, and experts note that hostile tender offers succeed only about 30% of the time.

How Paramount's hostile bid for Warner Bros. compares to Netflix deal

Paramount Skydance has launched a $108 billion bid for Warner Brothers' Discovery. The announcement of the hostile takeover offer comes just days after Warner Brothers' Discovery said it had agreed to a nearly $83 billion deal with Netflix. Under that agreement, Netflix would acquire Warner's streaming and movie assets, but now Paramount is looking to outbid Netflix in a deal that would include all of Warner Brothers' Discovery, including its cable channels. We should note that Paramount Skydance is the parent company of CBS News. Joining us now is Nick Lichtenberg. He is the business editor at Fortune. Nick, good to see you again. Boy, a lot has happened since we just spoke a few days ago. We were discussing the Netflix deal that was reached. What makes Paramount Skydance's offer different? Yeah, it's for the whole company. So Netflix is bidding for 80% or so, maybe. Well, I think that's the big question really, is how much is Netflix's offer worth compared to the Paramount offer? And Paramount is gonna buy the whole thing. Netflix is gonna buy something like 80, 90%. And that's 108 billion versus 83 billion. And so there's a real valuation question that's playing out here for shareholders. So you mentioned shareholders. How will this process unfold? Is it ultimately shareholders who will decide on what happens? And are they, are you thinking that they're only thinking solely about the monetary gain here? Because we know that David Ellison, the chairman of Paramount Skydance says, well, this is better for Hollywood too. It's true. He's saying that. I was just at a conference where the Netflix co-CEOs were saying, theirs is better for Hollywood. For now, Warner says it's still recommending the Netflix deal offer, but it's going to review the Paramount offer. They've got until just before Christmas, December 22nd, to make a recommendation to shareholders. Paramount, David Ellison has accused Warner of not taking them seriously, not engaging with them at all over the last six months. They said they didn't even have one meeting where there was like a document that was looked at and discussed. So they feel like it's just not been a fair process for them. And Warner could face questions from investors saying like, hey, we agree with Paramount here. We like this deal better. There could even be a lawsuit. Like it's just getting really fun right now. How unusual is a situation like this? It's not unusual. But I will say there was great data that the Wall Street Journal reported on today saying this only really works 30% of the time, a hostile tender offer to shareholders. And if this works, they think it would be the biggest deal ever to have a hostile tender offer like this. Nick Lichtenberg, very interesting. Thank you.

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