Warner Bros. Discovery is about to dive into the very nitty-gritty of deciding whether to sell all or part of its company.
The media conglomerate, which includes Warner Bros., HBO, HBO Max, CNN, TBS, and HGTV, is currently considering multiple acquisition offers. The first round of bids, scheduled for Thursday (Nov. 20), was expected to include Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix. The three companies submitted preliminary, non-binding proposals by the noon Eastern time deadline, according to people familiar with the situation. It is unclear whether there have been any other expressions of interest.
Sources said the bidding process routinely requires participants to sign non-disclosure agreements. Paramount Skydance, Netflix and Comcast declined to comment, as did Warner Bros. Discovery.
Last month, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it had received inbound M&A interest from “multiple parties” and had begun the process of considering offers. WBD’s board of directors hopes to review the initial offer before Thanksgiving, with the goal of deciding on a future course of action by the end of 2025.
David Ellison is known to have made a bid for the entire WBD, having just signed a deal with Paramount Skydance in August. In October, the Warner Bros. Discovery board rejected his $23.50-per-share offer of 80% cash and 20% stock (which also included a proposal to make David Zaslav co-chairman and co-CEO of the combined company). Paramount Skydance’s bid this week was fully backed by the Ellison family (namely wealthy tech mogul Larry Ellison) along with Redbird Capital, and was expected to roughly match Ellison’s previous offer of $23.50 a share, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
WBD said it would consider selling Warner Bros.’ businesses (HBO Max and Studios) separately from TV-focused Discovery Global. This is in line with Warner Bros. Discovery’s plan to split into two companies by April 2026, with Zaslav becoming CEO of Warner Bros. and current CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels becoming CEO of Discovery Global.
Comcast, which is spinning off Netflix and cable specialist Versant and splitting NBCUniversal in two by the end of the year, is considering acquiring Warner Bros.’ streaming and studio operations, but has no interest in WBD’s cable TV business.
Ellison argued that Paramount is a great fit for WBD and that combining the two companies would create a media and entertainment powerhouse with scale across streaming, television and film. Ellison’s camp also sees Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery as having the fewest regulatory hurdles. It’s worth noting that the Ellisons are friendly with President Donald Trump. President Trump has reportedly supported the Paramount-WBD merger and expressed open hostility toward Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts over MSNBC’s coverage of Trump.
Netflix is acquiring Warner Bros.’ extensive production capabilities and extensive film and television library. But the prospect that the No. 1 premium streamer would also buy HBO Max has raised antitrust alarms among some politicians. Meanwhile, people familiar with the matter said Netflix has reassured WBD that it will honor the latter’s theatrical distribution agreement to continue showing Warner Bros. movies in theaters if the bid is successful.
