Paramount Skydance has extended the deadline on its hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery to 20 February, buying itself more time to sway investors without making the one move many believe would change the outcome: raising its offer.
The extension, announced on Thursday, comes as Paramount struggles to gain traction against a rival, board-backed deal with Netflix that has quickly become the benchmark for shareholders weighing certainty against ambition.
As of the original 21 January deadline, just 168.5 million Warner shares (around 6.8% of the company) had been tendered to Paramount, far short of the majority needed to seize control.
At stake is one of the most consequential media shakeups in decades. Control of Warner Bros Discovery would hand a single buyer an unrivalled portfolio spanning HBO Max, Warner Bros’ film and television studios, and franchises from Friends to Batman.
It is expected to reshape Hollywood’s balance of power and test how much risk investors are willing to tolerate in pursuit of a higher headline price.
Paramount’s proposal values Warner at more than US$108 billion, including debt, offering $30 per share in cash for the entire company.
Netflix’s competing bid, revised earlier this week, is narrower but simpler: $27.75 per share in an all-cash deal for Warner’s studio and streaming assets, valuing the transaction at roughly $83 billion including debt.
Warner’s cable networks would be spun off into a separate company, Discovery Global.
Warner’s board has unanimously backed Netflix’s offer, rejecting multiple Paramount approaches, including an amended proposal featuring $40 billion in equity personally guaranteed by Larry Ellison, the Oracle co-founder and father of Paramount CEO David Ellison.
Analysts and the board alike have suggested Paramount would need to materially improve its terms to reopen talks.
Paramount, undeterred, has gone on the offensive by suing Warner, courting shareholders and attacking the structure of the Netflix deal.
It argues that Netflix’s proposal depends on transferring $17 billion of debt to the spun-off networks business and warns that any failure to execute that plan would erode shareholder value.
Warner counters that its advisers used multiple valuation methods for Discovery Global, producing a wide range of outcomes, and insists the Netflix deal offers greater certainty.
The market’s reaction has been muted but telling.
Paramount shares rose about 1.9% on Thursday, while Netflix slid more than 2% and Warner stock was little changed—suggesting investors see little immediate shift in the balance of power.
The fight is expected to intensify ahead of a shareholder vote likely to be held by April.
Once Paramount clears procedural hurdles with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, it plans to urge Warner investors to vote against what it calls an inferior Netflix transaction.
It has also signalled that a rejection of the Netflix deal would trigger a push to replace Warner’s board with directors willing to reconsider Paramount’s bid.
Meanwhile, regulatory politics loom large with both bidders facing antitrust scrutiny.
However, Paramount has argued that its ownership structure - and the Ellison family’s relationship with President Donald Trump - could smooth approval.
Netflix says it has made progress with regulators and sees HBO Max as a way to expand subscription options and unlock new theatrical revenues, despite concerns about integration costs and debt.
For now, however, the numbers tell a stark story.
Shareholders have shown little appetite for Paramount’s unchanged offer, while Warner’s leadership is pressing ahead with a deal it believes delivers clarity and speed in an uncertain industry.
“Once again, Paramount continues to make the same offer our board has repeatedly and unanimously rejected in favour of a superior merger agreement with Netflix,” Warner said, adding: “It is clear our shareholders agree.”
