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Comcast, Netflix, And Paramount Submit Their Bids For Warner Bros.
WBD Melee // Illustration by Kate Walker
Comcast, Netflix, and Paramount — for what looks like the third time — have all submitted nonbinding bids for part or all of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Big Picture: The WBD bidding war is the biggest Hollywood M&A showdown since… well… the last Warner Bros. transaction (the studio has changed hands four times in the past decade) or Disney’s 2018 absorption of 20th Century Fox. But this time, streaming scale will likely be the deciding factor in who emerges victorious.
Behind The Scenes: So, how does each bidder stack up in the fight?
Paramount is the only suitor that wants all of WBD, reportedly offering over $60 billion. With a much smaller streaming subscriber base than HBO Max, its bid is a pure scale play — and it plans to run the studios separately to boost theatrical output.
Comcast is only interested in WBD’s movie and TV studio plus its streaming business, which means it would need to sell off WBD’s TV assets separately. Adding HBO Max would instantly turn Peacock into a global streaming player. Comcast hasn’t commented on its film strategy yet.
Netflix is also only after the movie and TV studio and streaming business, which would bolster its IP library and expand its production operations. The company says it would honor Warner Bros.’ theatrical commitments... though few expect that to last forever.
Final Pitch: Of course, any deal of this magnitude involves major political scrutiny, complicated by personal relationships with POTUS himself. For example, Netflix, the largest global streamer, would likely face antitrust issues. And the Ellisons’ cozy relationship with Donald Trump could tip the scales in Paramount’s favor. Meanwhile, Trump’s disdain for Comcast CEO Brian Roberts could be an obstacle to its M&A quest.
And that’s before factoring in European regulators and potential Middle Eastern sovereign-wealth participation (potentially with Paramount and Comcast), which would spark further foreign-investment investigations.
Yet, somehow, WBD expects to pick a winner sometime next month.
Future Owner: Considering the regulatory hurdles, we’re not sure how anyone but Paramount succeeds here… unless WBD sticks with its original plan and splits the company in two instead.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.