Warner Bros. Discovery shares have soared to new heights after reports that the Ellison family is preparing a bid for the corporation. Thursday’s high was at $17.24 earlier in the day, a new 52-week high for the stock.
The shares for WBD bumped up by 37%, while Paramount Skydance spiked by 10%. The stock price closed at $16.17.
Per WSJ, the majority cash bid would be for the entire company and would include its cable networks and movie studio. The price of the offer, which has yet to be submitted, hasn’t been disclosed.
Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery spiked over 35% on Thursday following the report, while Paramount stock jumped more than 5%. WBD currently has a market capitalization of $39.8 billion, while Paramount has a market cap of $17.95 billion, as TheWrap previously reported.
A spokesperson for Paramount declined to comment, while WBD did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.
Back in August, David Ellison’s Skydance Media closed its $8 billion merger with Paramount after a lengthy review process by the Federal Communications Commission.
The two-step deal saw Ellison acquire Shari Redstone’s National Amusements, which controlled 77.4% of the Paramount Class A common stock outstanding and approximately 9.5% of the overall equity of the company, before merging with the Hollywood studio, whose assets include CBS, Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, MTV, BET Media Group, Nickelodeon, Paramount+ and Pluto TV.
It included $2.4 billion for Redstone, $4.5 billion to non-NAI Paramount shareholders and an additional $1.5 billion in new capital to help pay down debt and recapitalize the company’s balance sheet. The Ellison family put up about $6 billion in financing, while the remainder came from private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners.
The report of a bid from the Ellison family also comes as Warner Bros. Discovery is on track to split its TV networks and studios & streaming businesses into two separate companies by mid-2026: Warner Bros. and Discovery Global.
Warner Bros., which will be led by current CEO David Zaslav, will house the studios and streaming business, including Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros. Games, Tours, Retail and Experiences, as well as studio production facilities in Burbank and Leavesden.
Discovery Global, which will be led by WBD chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels, will house CNN, TNT Sports in the U.S., Discovery, top free-to-air channels across Europe, Discovery+ and Bleacher Report (B/R). It will also hold a 20% stake in Warner Bros. and the majority of the combined company’s $35.6 billion in gross debt.
The news also comes as WB taps Gary Wordham as its new president of physical production at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.
