Paramount Skydance Urges Shareholders to Accept $30 Cash Offer

Paramount Skydance escalated its contest for Warner Bros. Discovery today, when CEO David Ellison sent a letter urging shareholders to tender their shares and to register with Warner Bros. Discovery's board of directors that they prefer the Paramount transaction. The offer from Paramount values Warner Bros. Discovery at $30.00 per share in cash and an enterprise value cited at $108.4 billion, and Paramount framed its proposal as superior to Warner Bros. Discovery's existing pact with Netflix.

Paramount argued its all cash bid offers a clearer, quicker path to closing because it is supported by backstopped equity financing and committed debt financing. In contrast Paramount said the Netflix transaction included a lower cash component, a more complex structure and greater regulatory uncertainty. Variety published Ellison's full letter and coverage of the escalating takeover battle, which has renewed scrutiny of consolidation in the global media sector.

The dispute underscores how financing arrangements and deal structure can be decisive in high stakes mergers. An all cash offer backed by committed financing reduces execution risk for shareholders who prioritize immediacy and certainty of value. For Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders the choice is not only about headline price but also about the likelihood that a transaction will survive regulatory review and close on the timetable bidders propose.

The contest between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery's arrangement with Netflix also highlights shifting strategic priorities across the media industry. Major studios and streamers have been consolidating to chase scale, content libraries and global distribution networks as subscription growth slows and content costs remain high. Yet those same dynamics invite closer antitrust scrutiny around market concentration, bargaining power with distributors and platform gatekeepers, and the implications for independent creators and regional content producers.

Cultural and social stakes are central to the debate. Consolidation can produce larger pools of capital for tentpole projects and global franchises, but it can also narrow the range of decision makers who green light content. That has implications for the diversity of stories that reach audiences, the bargaining power of talent and crews, and the geographic distribution of production work. Regulators examining deals will weigh those considerations alongside traditional competition metrics.

For Warner Bros. Discovery the immediate procedural consequence is a surge in shareholder engagement. Paramount is asking investors to take the formal step of tendering shares and formally signaling their preference to the board. How many shareholders act, and how quickly, will affect the leverage of both parties at the negotiating table and could shape how the board evaluates its existing agreement with Netflix.

The letter from Ellison tightens an already intense contest that will play out against a backdrop of global regulatory scrutiny and industry recalibration. Beyond the immediate arithmetic of bids, the outcome will send a message about how media giants will finance future scale and how regulators will balance the competing demands of competition policy and industrial strategy for cultural industries.