Paramount Skydance has launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), with a clear focus on the company’s sports properties, including TNT Sports, signaling a potential reshaping of U.S. sports media.
“We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interest and maximize the value of their shares,” Paramount CEO and Chair David Ellison said on CNBC. “This is an existential moment for our business.”
The CBS Sports parent company on Monday offered WBD shareholders $30 per share in cash for the entire company, a proposal that values WBD at $108.4 billion, including debt. Paramount’s offer contrasts with Netflix’s $82.7 billion deal for WBD’s studio and streaming assets, which notably excludes the company’s sports and linear networks, including TNT, TBS, and CNN. Paramount is appealing directly to shareholders to bypass WBD’s management, aiming to force a vote on its bid.
Paramount’s latest move comes after three months of multiple overtures, beginning with a $19-per-share offer in September and escalating to the $30-per-share cash bid on December 4, which the WBD board ignored in favor of Netflix’s offer.
The company is now leveraging backing from strategic partners, including the Ellison family, RedBird Capital Partners, Affinity Partners led by Jared Kushner, and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. Tencent has also committed $1 billion in funding, alongside $54 billion in debt commitments from major banks.
Sports are at the center of Paramount’s bid. A successful takeover would merge CBS Sports with TNT Sports, creating a powerhouse across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms. Ellison said the combination would generate significant synergies in sports rights, safeguarding the value of linear properties at a time when streaming continues to disrupt traditional broadcasting.
“Our deal provides a significant amount of synergies in sports rights that will be able to protect those linear properties,” Ellison said.
Netflix’s deal, in contrast, anticipates a split of WBD into studio/streaming and sports/linear divisions, forming Discovery Global, which would include TNT Sports. Paramount argues its all-cash bid offers shareholders superior value and a faster, more certain path to completion, while Netflix’s stock-and-cash offer exposes them to a prolonged regulatory process and uncertain trading performance for the sports networks.
Paramount’s tender offer, set to expire January 8, leaves shareholders weighing the future of WBD’s sports properties and whether Paramount’s vision for a combined CBS-TNT sports empire presents the most lucrative opportunity.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Sign up for our newsletters to stay updated and get the latest information right in your inbox.
