The bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) remains ongoing and highly contentious.
In December 2025, Netflix emerged as the winner of a competitive auction, agreeing to acquire WBD's studios and streaming assets (including Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO, HBO Max, and related libraries) for approximately $72 billion (equity value, with enterprise value around $82-83 billion).
This deal excludes WBD's linear networks (e.g., CNN, TNT, Discovery channels), which are set to spin off as a separate public company called Discovery Global in mid-2026 (likely Q3).
However, Paramount Skydance (led by David Ellison, backed by his father Larry Ellison and partners like RedBird Capital) has launched a persistent hostile takeover bid for the entire WBD company at $30 per share in all cash, valuing it at around $108.4 billion. This unsolicited tender offer, first launched on December 8, 2025, was amended in late December with enhancements including a personal $40.4 billion guarantee from Larry Ellison and a raised regulatory reverse termination fee to match Netflix's.
Reports from late December 2025 indicated the board was likely to reject the latest hostile bid as well.
The Paramount tender offer has been extended to January 21, 2026, giving shareholders time to tender shares directly. Some investors and analysts debate the merits—Paramount's bid provides immediate all-cash value and includes the networks, while Netflix's focuses on high-growth assets but involves some stock consideration and excludes the linear business.
Regulatory scrutiny is a key uncertainty for both deals, potentially involving the Trump administration and antitrust reviews. No final resolution has been announced as of early January 2026, and the situation could evolve with further bids, shareholder actions, or board decisions. WBD stock has surged over 170% in 2025 amid the drama.