Following the news that Paramount will pay $30 per share for Warner Bros. Discovery, WBD’s stock jumped up 7% on Monday.
Paramount also saw a boost with its stock rising by 1.9%. Netflix, which won the bidding war around WBD’s assets last week, dropped 2.8%.
Last Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery announced it had accepted Netflix’s bid to acquire Warner Bros. — the half of Warner Bros. Discovery that will house its streaming and studio assets once WBD splits into two entities. That separation is expected to take place in the third quarter of 2026. Netflix’s $82.7 billion offer would give shareholders $27.75 a share. But on Monday morning Paramount countered with an all-cash tender offer for $30 per share. Warner Bros. Discovery is now obligated to take this offer directly to its shareholders.
Paramount’s offer, which is for the entire company rather than just WBD’s studio and streaming assets, is $18 billion more than Netflix’s offer. The total enterprise value of the new offer amounts to $108.4 billion, according to Paramount.
David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount Skydance, is expected to address the hostile bid during a conference call on Monday.
“WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company. Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors in private, provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion,” Ellison said in a statement.
As for Netflix, Co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos are scheduled to appear on Monday as part of UBS’ 2025 Global Media and Communications Conference. It’s expected that they will address both the company’s bid to acquire Warner Bros. and Paramount’s hostile counteroffer during this time.
