Paramount Skydance has filed what is believed to be a sweetened bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, opening a new round of haggling in efforts to snare the company’s HBO Max streaming service and Warner Bros. studios to help fuel economics amid a frenetic battle to stay afloat in the entertainment sector as more consumers turn to streaming to watch their favorite movies, programs and sports.
Warner said early Tuesday that it had received new terms from Paramount, even as it continues to move forward on a deal it has to sell its streaming and studio assets to Netflix, while spinning off its traditional TV assets into a new publicly traded entity.
“Following engagement with PSKY during the seven-day limited waiver period, we received a revised PSKY proposal to acquire WBD, which we are reviewing in consultation with our financial and legal advisors,” the company said in a statement. ” We will update our shareholders following the Board’s review. The Netflix merger agreement remains in effect, and the Board continues to recommend in favor of the Netflix transaction. WBD shareholders are advised not to take any action at this time with respect to the amended PSKY tender offer.”
The company did not divulge the financial details of Paramount’s latest bid.
Despite the deal, Paramount has continued to agitate for more fulsome negotiations to buy Warner. Monday wrapped a busy seven-day period in which the WBD board sought Netflix’s blessing to engage in discussions with Paramount to “seek clarity” on its “best and final offer.” WBD asked Paramount Skydance “to clarify your proposal, which we understand will include a WBD per share price higher than $31” in a letter from Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and board chairman Samuel Di Piazza Jr. to Paramount’s board
Netflix has four days to match Paramount’s new offer, or it could bail out of the bidding process. A source close to the situation noted that WBD is legally bound to recommend its signed agreement with Netflix, valued at nearly $83 billion. Paramount has fielded a $108 billion offer for the entirety of WBD, including its cable channels. Netflix is buying Warner Bros. and HBO Max.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, in a Feb. 20 interview with Variety, declined to say how the streamer would respond to a higher offer from Paramount. But he did say that Netflix has a “rich history” of being “willing to walk away and let someone else overpay for things.”
Under Netflix’s agreement with WBD, the streamer would buy Warner Bros.’s studios and streaming businesses for $27.75 per share (in all cash, a change Netflix made last month from its previous cash-and-stock offer). WBD shareholders would retain equity in Discovery Global, the company’s proposed spin-off entity housing CNN, TBS and other linear networks as well as Discovery+.
Ellison first approached WBD CEO Zaslav in September 2025, initially offering $19/share for Warner Bros. Discovery. That came just weeks after Ellison’s Skydance Media closed its acquisition of Paramount Global. Paramount’s interest in WBD prompted the board to initiate a formal M&A review process — and the board picked Netflix as the winning bidder. WBD’s board has previously rejected Paramount’s takeover offers nine times.
Paramount’s takeover offer is backed by Larry Ellison (David’s tech-billionaire father) and RedBird Capital Partners. The company has secured debt financing from Bank of America, Citigroup and Apollo Global Management. Paramount’s bid also includes capital from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.