Paramount on Monday unveiled a hostile all‑cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, days after the company agreed to be acquired by Netflix in a deal valued at about $82.7 billion. Paramount is pitching its offer as faster to close and richer in cash, intensifying a takeover battle that has already drawn antitrust concerns from President Donald Trump and bipartisan critics.
Netflix announced on Friday that it had reached an agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and television studios, HBO Max, and HBO in a cash‑and‑stock deal valued at an enterprise value of about $82.7 billion, including debt, according to multiple outlets citing the companies’ announcement. The offer is based on a $27.75 per‑share price and a $72 billion equity value for the assets. The acquisition is expected to close in roughly 12 to 18 months, after Warner Bros. Discovery completes a previously announced separation of its cable operations, meaning the deal could be finalized as soon as the third quarter of 2026.
On an investor call, Netflix co‑CEO Ted Sarandos acknowledged that the company has typically been a builder rather than a buyer, but framed the Warner agreement as a notable exception. “Over the years, we have been known to be builders, not buyers,” Sarandos said, calling the deal “a rare opportunity” to advance Netflix’s mission of entertaining the world through compelling stories, according to The Daily Wire’s account of the call and other reports. Netflix has also told investors and regulators that Warner Bros.’ existing operations, including theatrical film releases, would continue under the new ownership structure.
Paramount, run by Chairman and CEO David Ellison, responded on Monday by launching a hostile all‑cash tender offer for all of Warner Bros. Discovery, going directly to shareholders after Warner’s leadership chose Netflix’s proposal. Paramount is offering $30 per share in cash in a bid that values Warner at about $74.4 billion for the equity and roughly $108 billion on an enterprise basis, according to regulatory filings and company statements cited by outlets including the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, Breitbart and Reuters. Because Paramount is seeking to buy the entire company, its proposal includes Warner’s cable television and networks business, which is not part of the assets Netflix agreed to acquire.
In a statement released with the bid, Ellison said, “We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood. It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry.” He argued that Paramount’s proposal delivers “superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion” than Netflix’s, language echoed in a press release referenced by The Daily Wire and other outlets. Paramount says its bid provides roughly $18 billion more in cash than the Netflix package and contends it could close with greater regulatory certainty by purchasing the business in a different structure than Netflix’s cash‑and‑stock transaction.
Paramount has previously tried to win Warner over in private. The company disclosed that it had submitted six proposals to Warner Bros. Discovery over a roughly 12‑week period, but that Warner’s board ultimately opted to sign with Netflix instead. Ellison told CNBC that the company “never heard back” before taking its $30‑per‑share offer directly to shareholders, according to accounts in the Los Angeles Times and other business press.
President Trump has publicly raised concerns about Netflix’s planned takeover. Speaking to reporters on the red carpet at a Kennedy Center event over the weekend, Trump said the amount of market share Netflix would gain from acquiring Warner “could be a problem” from a competition standpoint, comments reported by The Daily Wire, Fox Business, and other outlets. “They have a very big market share and when they have Warner Bros., you know, that share goes up a lot so, I don’t know,” Trump said, adding, “I’ll be involved in that decision, too,” in reference to the federal review process.
The proposed Netflix–Warner deal is expected to undergo scrutiny by the Justice Department’s antitrust division and other regulators in the United States and abroad. Trump’s suggestion that he will personally weigh in on whether the merger should proceed has prompted criticism from some former officials and antitrust experts, who say such direct presidential involvement in merger analysis is highly unusual.
Skepticism about the transaction is not limited to the White House. Lawmakers in both parties have signaled unease about further consolidation in streaming. Some Republicans have framed the merger as an antitrust risk, while Democrats such as Senator Elizabeth Warren have warned that combining Netflix’s global platform with Warner’s content library, including HBO Max, could give a single firm control over a large share of the streaming market and lead to higher prices and fewer choices for consumers, according to prior coverage of the deal’s political fallout.
Netflix has pushed back on those concerns. Sarandos has argued that the merger would be “pro‑consumer” and “pro‑innovation,” language used in public remarks and in the company’s outreach to policymakers, and has said the combined entity would still face robust competition from other streaming services and online platforms.
Paramount’s effort is unfolding amid these regulatory and political headwinds. Ellison, who is the son of Oracle co‑founder Larry Ellison—a longtime Trump ally and major donor—is leading the push with backing from a group of investors that includes Affinity Partners, an investment firm run by Trump’s son‑in‑law Jared Kushner, as disclosed in recent regulatory filings reported by several outlets. The involvement of Trump‑aligned investors has added another layer of political scrutiny to a contest that is already being watched closely by regulators, Wall Street and Hollywood.
Beyond the boardrooms and campaign donors, the outcome of the bidding war could reshape a significant portion of the U.S. entertainment industry, determining who controls marquee franchises such as “Harry Potter,” DC’s superhero properties and HBO’s prestige series, as well as the future of major cable and news networks that are central to the national media landscape.
