Warner Bros Discovery: new offers from Netflix, Paramount and Comcast
The three biggies raise their bids while the board now considers whether to go ahead with the divestment or proceed with the alternative plan of a split
It is an open challenge between Netflix, Paramount and Comcast over Warner Bros Discovery. And the competition - in the second round of bidding - is now taking on the contours of a key game for the entire audiovisual ecosystem, not only in the US.
The Netflix push
No official confirmation so far from Warner Bros Discovery. In any case, the focus of reports yesterday was first and foremost on Netflix's move, ready for a richer and largely cash-based relaunch to conquer Hollywood, from Warner studios to Hbo Max. The Los Gatos giant, according to rumours, is working on financing worth tens of billions, aiming at an operation that, in fact, would change its nature while aiming at the acquisition only of the studios and streaming part of Warner Bros Discovery: from a simple streaming platform to a vertically integrated group, with library, channels, studios. The proposal would leave out the 'legacy' cable TV networks, destined to merge into the future Discovery Global.
Ellison's strategy
David Ellison's Paramount Skydance is the only one aiming at the complete package: studios, platforms, and that constellation of linear cable channels that in the United States now represent an unwieldy legacy. The consortium, in this case, would appear to be broad: the Ellison family (his father is co-founder of Oracle), the RedBird and Apollo funds and also, according to indiscretions relaunched by the Variety website, three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (Pif), the Qatar Investment Authority (Qia) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia). The shares, the sources explained, would still remain below the threshold that triggers an examination by the Cfius (The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States).
Comcast's proposal
Further disrupting the race is Comcast. The new proposal envisages the merger of Warner and NbcUniversal assets, with the aim of bringing together the Peacock platform (owned by the company that controls the Sky group in Europe) and Hbo Max (the video-streaming platform that Warner Bros Discovery has decided to bet on), strengthening the studios and building a pole capable of withstanding the competitive pressure of Netflix and Amazon.
The regulatory node
In the background, the most delicate issue: the regulatory one. And it applies to all three suitors, although Ellison's political proximity to the White House is considered a 'facilitator'. The word now goes to the board of Warner Bros Discovery to analyse the proposals. It is unclear whether there will be another round of bidding. The goal, however, remains to close by the end of 2025, keeping on the table the alternative of splitting into two companies, one dedicated to studios and streaming and one to traditional TV.
