Paramount claims it made six separate bids that were rejected by Warner leadership before announcing its deal with Netflix on December 5. file | Photo courtesy: Reuters
Warner Bros. is asking shareholders to reject Paramount Skydance’s takeover bid, saying a rival bid from Netflix would be better for customers.
“The board reviewed Paramount Skydance’s most recent unsolicited tender proposal with the same care and discipline it has applied throughout this process, including reviewing numerous prior proposals,” Warner Bros. said on Wednesday (Dec. 17, 2025). “The Board’s evaluation followed a thorough and consistent process and is based on its fiduciary duties.”
Paramount turned hostile on its bid last week and asked shareholders to reject the deal with Netflix backed by Warner Bros.’s board.
Paramount is offering $30 per Warner share, compared with Netflix’s $27.75.
Paramount’s bid is not entirely fair. While Wednesday’s (Dec. 17) letter to shareholders means Paramount’s offer is not supported by Warner Bros.’s board, shareholders could still decide to tender their shares in favor of Paramount’s offer for the entire company, including the cable giant. cnn And Search,
Unlike Paramount’s bid, Netflix’s offer does not include purchasing Warner Bros.’s cable operations. The acquisition by Netflix, if approved by regulators and shareholders, will close only after Warner completes the previously announced process of separating its cable operations.
Paramount claims it made six separate bids, which were rejected by Warner leadership, before announcing its deal with Netflix on December 5. Only after this did he present his proposal directly to Warner’s shareholders.
Apart from the green signal from shareholders, both takeover bids face tremendous regulatory scrutiny. Warner’s change in ownership would drastically alter the entertainment and media industries – impacting film production, consumer streaming platforms and, in the case of Paramount, the news landscape.
Critics of the Netflix deal say combining the streaming giant with Warner’s HBO Max would give it overwhelming market dominance, while the Paramount+ streaming service is much smaller.
“This is something we’ve heard for a long time — including since we started the streaming business,” Netflix co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos said in a filing via Warner Bros.
The bids from both Netflix and Paramount have raised concerns about what they could mean for film and TV production. While Netflix has agreed to maintain Paramount’s contractual obligations for theatrical release, critics have pointed to its past business model and reliance on online releases. Yet Paramount and Warner Bros. are two of the “big five” legacy studios remaining in Hollywood today.
Paramount’s attempt to buy Warner’s cable networks and news business will also bring cbs And cnn under one roof. In addition to further intensifying media consolidation, which may raise questions about changes in editorial control, as seen cbs news, Skydance’s $8 billion purchase of Paramount, which it completed in August, was both a pioneer and a follower.
US President Donald Trump has already been vocal about his future involvement in the deal, signaling that politics will play a role in regulatory approval.
Mr Trump had previously said the Netflix deal “could be a problem” because of the potential for widespread control of the market. The Republican president also has a close relationship with Oracle’s billionaire founder Larry Ellison – father of Paramount’s CEO, whose family trust is also heavily backing the company’s bid to buy Warner.
Affinity Partners, an investment firm run by Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, had earlier said it would also invest in the Paramount deal. But on Tuesday (December 16) the company announced it would withdraw from the bid.
Nevertheless, Mr. Trump also has a tendency to make decisions based on mood and his personal mood. He has continued to publicly attack Paramount over editorial decisions CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
“For those who think I’m close to the new owners of this cbs“Please understand that 60 Minutes has treated me worse since the so-called “acquisition” than they have ever treated me before,” Mr Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social on Tuesday (Dec 16). “If they’re friends, I’d hate to see my enemies!”
published – December 17, 2025 07:44 PM IST