Warner Bros. Discovery Responds to Paramount’s Takeover Offer

by

Paramount recently joined forces with Skydance in a deal worth $8.4 billion and immediately began looking at acquiring another major media company. In September, Paramount announced it was…

Warner Bros. Discovery rejected an initial takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, according to a Bloomberg report. Sources say Paramount’s offer of around $20 per share was too low. The discussions are confidential, so sources requested anonymity. Last week, Paramount explored financial backing from Apollo Global Management for the deal. At a recent Bloomberg conference, Paramount’s Ellison declined to comment on the potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Despite Warner Bros. walking away from a potential deal, Paramount, under the leadership of David Ellison, still has several paths forward. These include increasing its offer, appealing directly to shareholders, or finding a financial partner to support a takeover. Recent reports from CNBC suggest discussions between the two companies stalled due to disagreements over price. Both Paramount and Warner Bros. declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg. David Ellison became CEO of Paramount in August following its merger with Skydance Media. Paramount owns well-known brands like CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, and its film studio.

Warner Bros. is Slated to Separate Its 2 Entities Next Year

An earlier report indicated that Paramount’s potential acquisition of Warner Bros. would focus solely on the Warner Bros. studio itself, not the entire Warner Bros. Discovery company. Warner Bros. has been working to separate its studio business from its cable and traditional television networks. According to a source familiar with Paramount’s intentions, Paramount’s Shari Redstone has been considering a Warner Bros. acquisition for some time. The source stated in September that she was simply re-evaluating the potential benefits and drawbacks.

As a big fan of Warner Bros., I was really interested to hear that CEO David Zaslav announced plans to fully separate Warner Bros. from Discovery Global by April 2026. It’s exciting to see them streamlining things! And on top of that, they brought in Gary Wordham as the new president of physical production for the Motion Picture Group, which sounds like a great move for getting films made.

A future deal for Paramount to buy Warner Bros. Discovery probably wouldn’t need approval from the Federal Communications Commission since Paramount doesn’t own any traditional broadcast licenses. However, the merger could be reviewed by the Justice Department because the combined company would be very large and could reduce competition in the entertainment industry. Essentially, it would combine two of the biggest names in Hollywood – Paramount and Warner Bros. – under one owner.

Read More

2025-10-12 21:52