Paramount Skydance Reaffirms $30 Offer for Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount Skydance Corporation filed an amendment on Jan. 8 reaffirming its hostile all-cash tender offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $30.00 per share, a proposal Paramount equated to an enterprise value of roughly $108.4 billion. The filing said the offer was "fully financed" and included exhibits intended to demonstrate that the cash bid is superior to Netflix’s earlier agreement to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and HBO Max for $27.75 per share. Paramount also said it had "cured" issues WBD had raised on Dec. 17, including providing an irrevocable personal guarantee from Larry Ellison for the equity portion of financing.

Paramount’s approach targets Warner Bros. Discovery in its entirety, including cable networks that Netflix excluded from its deal. Paramount has publicly downplayed the standalone value of some cable channels in its materials, arguing that a full takeover yields greater cash certainty for shareholders than the Netflix transaction, which covers studios and streaming but leaves legacy cable assets behind.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s board has repeatedly rebuffed Paramount. The board unanimously declined to engage with the tender offer and reiterated its recommendation that shareholders support the Netflix transaction. Board members expressed skepticism that Paramount could close the deal and warned that accepting the all-cash bid would saddle the combined company with substantial debt and "significant risks and uncertainties" compared with the Netflix agreement. Samuel A. Di Piazza Jr., chair of the WBD board, has emphasized the board’s position favoring what it views as a lower-risk path to closing and de-leveraging the company.

Early shareholder response to Paramount’s tender was limited. Paramount reported that approximately 1 percent of WBD shares had been tendered as of early January, and the bidder extended the tender deadline to Jan. 21 to press its case to a wider set of investors. The low initial uptake reflects both investor caution about financing and the reality that many institutional shareholders defer decisions until later in offer periods.

Beyond the immediate tug of war over price, the clash highlights broader industry trends. Streaming consolidation, the valuation gap between content libraries and legacy cable distribution, and the increasing role of deeply financed buyers are reshaping media ownership. Paramount’s willingness to use heavy leverage and to secure a high-profile personal guarantee underscores the persistent influence of nontraditional media capital on the sector.

Cultural and social stakes are substantial. A deal that transfers control of studios and networks changes which companies decide what stories are made, how they are distributed, and which programming receives investment. Increased leverage could force deeper cost-cutting at a time when creators and subscribers are watching whether new owners will prioritize volume of content, global reach, or the preservation of niche and regional programming. Regulators and investors will be watching whether a cash-heavy, potentially leveraged takeover advances content consolidation at the cost of competition and creative plurality.

As the Jan. 21 deadline approaches, the outcome will determine not only who writes the next chapter of Warner Bros. Discovery, but also how the media industry balances cash certainty, debt risk, and the cultural value of diverse outlets in an era of rapid consolidation.