By Michaela Gordoni
Paramount, Comcast and Netflix have all made non-binding bids for Warner Bros. Discovery.
WBD would like the process to be over by the end of the year, and more rounds of bidding are expected to take place, the Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 20.
The studio will split its assets into two companies in 2026. One will house studios and streaming, while the other is for cable networks.
WBD said it will consider proposals where the Warner Bros. business (HBO Max and studios) is sold separately from Discovery Global, Variety reported.
Comcast and Netflix aren’t interested in the whole shebang, but Paramount is bidding on all streaming, studios and cable networks. Comcast and Netflix are bidding on the studios, HBO and HBO Max.
Related: Potential Warner Bros.-Paramount Merger ‘Financial Death Sentence,’ Analysts Say
Paramount previously made three offers for WBD, which were declined. But Paramount has David Ellison as its CEO, the son of Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle and one of the richest people in the world. Larry is a strong supporter of President Trump, Deadline reported.
This could help WBD because if it gives into Paramount, it’s possible that the regulatory process would be smoother and quicker.
It could experience the opposite if it went with Comcast’s bid because Trump is not friendly toward MSNBC (now MS NOW) and NBC late-night host Seth Meyers and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts.
Even though Paramount is the only company going after WBD in its entirety, Ellison says he isn’t gunning for it.
“It’s important to know that there’s no must-have for us. We really look at this as buy-versus-build, and we absolutely have the ability to build to get to where we want to go,” Ellison said about Paramount’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this month. “We believe we can achieve our streaming goals, and that we can drive enterprise efficiency, and create value and long-term free cash flow generation all through the building.”
He added he is “disciplined” in his approach to pursuing more assets.
“As it relates to M&A, everything for us is going to tie back into, does it accelerate those three core principles for us,” he said. “We’re fortunate that we have the balance sheet to be able to be opportunistic when we think that M&A will accelerate our goals, but we’re also long-term disciplined owner operators.”
“We’ll always approach things through the lens of, How do we maximize value for shareholders? And from an M&A standpoint, it’s always going to be, How do we accelerate and improve our North Star principles?”
Hopefully, we’ll know by the end of the year which company wins the WBD bid.
Read Next: Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Consider a Merger
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