Entertainment giant Warner Bros Discovery’s board has reportedly turned down a nearly $60 billion takeover offer from Paramount Skydance, a source told Reuters on Tuesday (local time). The company also announced that it will now look at other options for a possible sale.The board had rejected a mostly cash offer of around $24 per share for the company, whose assets include the Warner Bros film and TV studios, CNN, several cable networks, and the HBO Max streaming service. Shares of Warner Bros Discovery closed 11% higher on Tuesday.According to another source, Comcast may review the media giant’s assets as well. Netflix is also among the interested buyers, CNBC reported, following earlier reports that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison had been in talks to buy the entire company.Warner Bros, known for film franchises like Harry Potter and DC Comics, announced in June that it planned to divide its business into two parts by next year: one focused on studios and another on cable networks. The move aims to separate its fast-growing streaming segment from its weaker cable operations.The company said its board will now weigh several options, including going ahead with the planned split, selling the entire company, or pursuing separate deals for its Warner Bros or Discovery Global businesses. It is also considering another structure that could merge Warner Bros with a spinoff of Discovery Global.
Major shake up
A sale or breakup of Warner Bros Discovery would be one of the biggest shake-ups in the global media landscape. The rise of streaming has already changed how audiences watch content, pulling viewers away from traditional TV and cutting into advertising income.Any buyer of Warner Bros Discovery would gain control of a major Hollywood studio and a leading streaming platform but would also take on its massive $35 billion debt.The company, valued at around $45.36 billion, has seen its shares rise more than 46% since early September, when reports of Paramount’s interest first emerged.“Paramount is the most likely to purchase the company. For Netflix, a purchase would make more sense following the planned split because the studio would be very valuable to Netflix but the TV networks not as much,” said eMarketer senior analyst Ross Benes told Reuters.Warner Bros Discovery had already rejected an earlier bid from Paramount, which offered about $20 per share, as it was seen as too low, two sources told Reuters.Bank of America research analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich estimated that the company’s full value was closer to $30 per share, given its rich portfolio of entertainment assets. “Given the company’s wealth of premium IP (Harry Potter, DC, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, etc.) and robust library, we continue to believe Warner Bros is an extremely attractive potential acquisition target,” she said in an investor note.Meanwhile, Comcast is preparing to spin off its NBCUniversal cable channels, such as USA Network and CNBC, into a new company called Versant later this year.“Potential WBD suitors, including Paramount, Comcast, Netflix, Amazon and Apple, could see value in moving sooner rather than later to acquire the entirety of WBD versus waiting to purchase just the streaming and studios assets,” Seth Shafer, principal analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan told the news agency.
