Warner Bros. Discovery’s board is considering whether to reopen sale negotiations with Paramount Skydance after receiving a revised takeover proposal that seeks to upend WBD’s existing agreement with Netflix.
According to rReuters, Paramount’s latest approach keeps its headline offer unchanged at $30 per share (€25.29) and an all-in valuation of about $108.4 billion (€91.4 billion), but adds new financial sweeteners aimed at addressing WBD board concerns.
Key among them is an offer to fund the $2.8 billion (€2.36 billion) termination fee that WBD would owe Netflix if it walked away from the existing deal, plus support for a debt refinancing and a proposed quarterly “ticking fee” of $0.25 per share (€0.21) starting in 2027 if a transaction is delayed, which Reuters said would be worth around $650 million (€548 million).
WBD has a binding agreement with Netflix dating from December, which was later amended into an all-cash structure at $27.75 per share (€23.39), with a shareholder vote expected in April.
In a February 10 filing, WBD confirmed receipt of Paramount Skydance’s further amended unsolicited tender offer and said it would review the proposal in line with its obligations under the Netflix merger agreement.
If WBD were to engage formally with Paramount, the existing Netflix agreement would typically require notification, potentially setting up a renewed bidding contest for WBD’s studio and streaming assets.
