- Netflix plans to switch its $82.7bn bid for Warner Bros Discovery’s studio and streaming assets to an all-cash offer to improve certainty and speed.
- Paramount Skydance is countering with a hostile $30-per-share all-cash offer for the entire WBD, including cable networks, valued at about $108bn.
- WBD’s board continues to back Netflix’s bid, arguing Paramount’s financing and closing certainty are weaker despite the higher headline price.
- Both bids face heavy political and regulatory scrutiny over antitrust, consolidation, and foreign-funding concerns that could delay or reshape any deal.
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As of mid-January 2026, the acquisition battle for Warner Bros. Discovery has sharpened between Netflix and Paramount Skydance, with both stacking their bids to sway shareholders and neutralize strategic and regulatory risk. Netflix’s original agreement—to acquire WBD’s studio and streaming assets for $27.75/share, valuing those at about $82.7 billion—excluded WBD’s cable networks and global linear networks such as CNN. Paramount’s competing bid, however, is $30/share all-cash, covering the entire company, including its cable/network properties, and is financed by equity (including large backstops) and substantial debt.
Netflix’s shift to an all-cash offer represents a critical tactical adjustment. By removing the stock component, Netflix aims to reduce valuation uncertainty for shareholders and streamline regulatory review. If it converts its deal to entirely cash—while still excluding the cable networks—it could reduce the perceived execution risk and match Paramount’s headline per-share cash value more directly.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s board remains aligned with the Netflix transaction, despite Paramount’s escalation. The board has publicly rejected Paramount’s offer multiple times, citing lack of guarantee and risk in Paramount’s funding model, and maintaining its view that Netflix’s proposal offers greater certainty and lower risk.
Key challenges remain: regulator review from antitrust bodies, and oversight bodies such as CFIUS given the involvement of foreign sovereign wealth funds in Paramount’s financing. Also, public concern—politicians, unions—question the effects on competition, content diversity, labor, and consumer pricing if nearly half of streaming is consolidated under one roof.
Strategic implications are substantial: the winner will define control over premium content franchises (Harry Potter, DC, etc.), scale economies in streaming vs broadcast, and the future shape of cable-networks vs streaming businesses. For investors, cash vs stock terms, deal certainty, and regulatory timelines will likely decide value. For competitors, this will signal whether deep consolidation is possible under current political/regulatory climate.
Open questions include:
- Will Netflix formally announce its all-cash version of the offer, at what per-share price, and whether this matches or beats Paramount’s $30/share bid?
- Whether Paramount will raise its bid further or re-structure it to reduce regulatory risk and improve guarantee credibility?
- How regulators—including DOJ, FTC, CFIUS—will treat the exclusion of certain networks and whether ownership concentration in streaming markets will trigger forced disposals or conditions?
- Timing of the shareholder vote, board recommendations, and potential legal rulings related to both bids, as well as the speed with which each party can close.
Supporting Notes
- Netflix’s original offer for WBD’s studio and streaming assets is $27.75/share (mix of cash and stock) valuing those assets at $82.7 billion enterprise value.
- Paramount Skydance has made an all-cash $30/share hostile tender offer for all WBD shares, valuing the entirety at ~$108.4 billion including its cable networks.
- Warner Bros. Discovery’s board has rejected Paramount’s hostile offer, calling it “inferior,” citing uncertainty in financing, and warned shareholders not to accept it.
- Paramount has provided $40.4 billion in equity backstopped by Larry Ellison, increased its breakup fee from $5 billion to $5.8 billion, and secured financing commitments from sovereign wealth funds and major banks; earlier versions raised questions over whether the guarantee was fully secured.
- Netflix is reportedly planning to shift its offer to all-cash in response in order to speed up the deal and reduce uncertainty for shareholders.
- Regulatory and public pushback includes concerns over antitrust, content diversity, possible media consolidation—some critics estimate that the combined Netflix-WBD would control nearly half of the U.S. streaming market.