Feb 15 (Reuters) – Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) is considering reopening sale talks with rival Hollywood studio Paramount Skydance (PSKY) after receiving its hostile suitor’s most recent amended offer, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Members of Warner Bros’ board are discussing whether Paramount could offer the path to a superior deal, the Bloomberg report said, adding that the board has not decided how to respond and may stick to the current deal with Netflix (NFLX) .
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Paramount, Warner Bros and Netflix did not respond to requests for comment.
Paramount had enhanced its Warner Bros bid last week by offering shareholders extra cash for each quarter the deal fails to close after this year. It also agreed to cover the breakup fee the HBO parent would owe Netflix if it walked away, even though the CBS owner did not raise its per-share offer.
Paramount said it has offered shareholders a 25-cent-per-share quarterly “ticking fee” (about $650 million) in cash starting in 2027 until closing and agreed to cover Warner Bros’ $2.8 billion breakup fee to Netflix. However, it did not raise its $30-per-share offer, valuing the deal at $108.4 billion including debt.
Both Netflix and Paramount covet Warner Bros for its leading film and television studios, extensive content library and major franchises such as “Game of Thrones,” “Harry Potter” and DC Comics superheroes Batman and Superman.
Activist investor Ancora Holdings, which has built a nearly $200 million stake, last week said it plans to oppose the Netflix deal, arguing the board did not sufficiently engage with Paramount over its rival bid, which includes cable assets like CNN and TNT.
(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)
