By India McCarty
Paramount Skydance upped the ante on their bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, offering shareholders bonuses — and promising to pay off Netflix, another competing bidder.
“We are making meaningful enhancements — backing this offer with billions of dollars, providing shareholders with certainty in value, a clear regulatory path, and protection against market volatility,” Paramount head David Ellison said in a statement about the offer.
Paramount Skydance said they will add an “incremental cash consideration” for WBD shareholders of 25 cents per share (equivalent to $650 million value each quarter) for every quarter the potential Paramount deal isn’t closed beyond Dec. 31, 2026.
Related: Is Netflix Going to Snag Warner Bros. Discovery?
Variety noted that this “ticking fee” reflects Ellison’s confidence that their deal “will have a smoother path to regulatory approval than Netflix’s merger with Warner Bros. Paramount (and others) have alleged that Netflix, if it owns HBO Max, would have a virtual monopoly on subscription streaming in multiple markets.”
Further sweetening the deal? Paramount Skydance said they will pay the $2.8 billion breakup fee WBD would owe Netflix if their proposed deal falls apart.
While this all sounds pretty good for WBD, Emarketer senior analyst Ross Benes told Reuters it’s unlikely to convince Warner Bros. to switch allegiances from Netflix to Paramount.
“The sweetened deal is unlikely to sway WBD away from Netflix and toward Paramount. Paramount is throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks,” he explained. “Outside of raising its price, Paramount’s best chance at stealing WBD is from outside regulators blocking Netflix.”
Many have already raised concerns about the monopolization of the movie industry should the Netflix-WBD deal go through, including Cinema United, a trade organization for theater exhibitors.
“If Netflix succeeds in acquiring Warner Bros., the results will be economically and culturally catastrophic: fewer theatres, shorter windows, less revenue, fewer jobs across the national and global entertainment industry, and fewer movies for consumers to see in theatres,” the organization said in a statement shared with the Senate antitrust committee.
Cinema United added that this merger would “further consolidate control over production and distribution of motion pictures in the hands of a single, dominant, global streaming platform in a market that is already highly concentrated.”
“We are deeply concerned that this acquisition of Warner Bros. by Netflix will have a direct and irreversible negative impact on movie theatres around the world,” they continued.
It’s still unclear who will win over WBD, but Paramount Skydance’s latest offer shows the company is serious about scoring the studio.
Read Next: Theater Owners Call Pending Netflix-Warner Bros. Merger ‘Catastrophic’
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