Paramount Skydance

Paramount Skydance is the merged entity combining Paramount Global’s assets with Skydance Media, backed by the Ellison family. It operates Paramount Pictures, Paramount+ and a portfolio of broadcast and cable networks. - Unsuccessful rival bidder for Warner Bros. Discovery

On December 5, 2025, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced a definitive deal for Netflix to acquire Warner Bros.' film and television studios plus its premium and streaming businesses, including HBO and HBO Max, in a transaction valued at roughly $72 billion in equity and $82.7 billion including debt. On January 20, 2026, the parties amended the agreement to an all-cash structure at the same $27.75 per share price, accelerating the timeline for a shareholder vote now expected by April 2026. The deal follows WBD's June 2025 decision to split into two public companies—Warner Bros. (studios and streaming) and Discovery Global (cable networks)—and caps a months-long auction in which Netflix outbid Paramount Skydance and Comcast. In the weeks following the announcement, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos met personally with President Donald Trump at the White House, while rival Paramount Skydance launched a $108 billion hostile tender offer that WBD's board has repeatedly rejected.

Updated Jan 24

Paramount Skydance is a U.S. media conglomerate combining Paramount’s legacy studio and TV networks with Skydance’s production operations and a growing news portfolio, including CBS News. - Amended hostile tender rejected by WBD board; deadline extended to Jan 21, 2026; awaiting shareholder response or possible further bid enhancement

In late 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) put itself in play, triggering a rare open bidding war over a century-old Hollywood studio and one of the world's most valuable content libraries. After months of private and public offers from Netflix, Paramount Skydance and Comcast, WBD's board agreed on December 5, 2025 to sell its studios and streaming arm—including HBO, DC, and the Warner Bros. film and TV operations—to Netflix in a $72 billion cash‑and‑stock deal, leaving its cable networks such as CNN outside the transaction.

Updated Jan 6

Paramount Skydance is the bidder that launched an unsolicited all-cash tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Warner Bros. Discovery, challenging WBD’s signed agreement to sell its studios and streaming assets to Netflix. - Hostile bidder seeking to acquire all of WBD via $30/share all-cash tender offer

After Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery announced their $72 billion equity-value agreement on December 5, the transaction quickly became a live bidding contest and a regulatory test case. On December 8, Paramount Skydance launched an unsolicited all-cash tender offer for all of WBD at $30 per share, seeking to derail the Netflix deal and keep the company intact (including the networks slated for the Discovery Global spin-off). Within days, Netflix began a coordinated shareholder push backing its signed merger agreement and emphasizing regulatory execution, while WBD prepared formal filings to respond to the tender offer.

Updated Dec 11, 2025