The three companies in a bidding war to take over Warner Bros Discovery have entered into a second round of bids in an auction that will determine the fate of the home of HBO, TNT Sports, CNN and Discovery.
Streaming giant Netflix submitted a mostly cash offer for the company, according to a report from Reuters on Tuesday morning.
Paramount Skydance also submitted a revised bid. Its initial, rejected bid, is thought to have valued Warner Bros Discovery at $60billion. Comcast, owner of Sky in the UK, is also understood to have made an improved offer.
Details of the amounts on offer have not been disclosed.
When will we know the outcome?
Last week, Warner Bros Discovery asked bidders to submit improved offers by 1st December after rejecting all of the first-round bids.
If none of the bids submitted on Monday are accepted by Warner Bros Discovery, the auction will continue with further rounds of bidding, which could take weeks to conclude.
The bids are binding, which means the board can approve a deal quickly if terms are met, according to Reuters. This means that if any of the offers on the table are acceptable to Warner Bros board members, a sale of all or part of the business could be announced within days.
What is at stake?
Paramount, Comcast and Netflix are bidding for a business that spans a film studio and numerous entertainment, lifestyle, factual and news brands.
Warner Bros Discovery was formed in 2022 following the merger of Warner Bros with Discovery. Since the merger, it has struggled with restructuring and the growth of streaming.
It inherited many different streaming services, which it has been working towards consolidating into one brand. In the UK, its streaming ambitions were held back by the existence of a previous distribution deal with Sky, signed under previous management. This ensured Sky had exclusive access to HBO titles. The deal also stopped the UK rollout of HBO Max until next year.
In the UK, Warner Bros Discovery owns or is a shareholder in services including TNT Sports, Discovery+, Quest, TLC, Food Network and CNN International.
Any takeover by Paramount or Comcast would raise serious competition concerns.
Paramount already owns free-to-air broadcaster 5, as well as MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon. The company also operates streaming services Paramount+ and Pluto TV.
Comcast is the owner of Sky. A takeover could bring TNT Sports and Sky Sports under one roof, a move that would trigger regulatory action.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: This image is AI generated on behalf of RXTV.