Warner Bros Discovery has formally urged its shareholders to reject a multi-billion dollar hostile takeover bid from rival media giant Paramount. The board of the Harry Potter and Batman studio has labelled the offer as "inadequate" and warned it poses a "significant risk" to investors.
Board Backs Netflix Deal Over Paramount's Approach
In a decisive move on Wednesday 17 December 2025, Warner Bros Discovery pushed back against the unsolicited approach from Paramount Skydance. The company's leadership stressed its commitment to a previously agreed deal with streaming titan Netflix, which plans to take control of its film and TV studios, cable networks, and streaming service.
Samuel Di Piazza Jr, Chairman of the Warner Bros board, stated: "This offer once again fails to address key concerns that we have consistently communicated to Paramount throughout our extensive engagement and review of their six previous proposals." He added, "We are confident that our merger with Netflix represents superior, more certain value for our shareholders."
The Financial and Regulatory Battle Lines
The takeover battle presents a stark financial contrast. Paramount lodged a bid of $30 (£22.50) per share for Warner Bros, valuing the entire company, including debts, at a whopping $108.4 billion (£81.3bn). This trumped the offer from Netflix, agreed in early December, which stands at $27.75 (£20.81) per share or $72 billion (£54bn) for the studios business alone, rising to $82.7bn (£62bn) with debt.
Paramount has argued its all-share offer for the whole of Warner Bros would face smoother regulatory scrutiny. However, the bid suffered a significant setback earlier on Wednesday when Affinity Partners, the private equity firm owned by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, withdrew its financial backing. This is seen as diminishing a potential advantage for Paramount in securing approval from the Trump administration, which has previously expressed concerns about the Netflix deal's combined market share.
Political Headwinds and Global Backers
President Trump had previously warned the Netflix takeover "could be a problem," confirming he would be involved in the government's decision on whether to approve it. Despite Kushner's exit, Paramount's bid retains the financial support of sovereign wealth funds run by three governments in the Persian Gulf, widely reported to be Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar.
Paramount revealed it had made six separate takeover approaches to Warner Bros over a 12-week period, but claimed the target company "never engaged meaningfully." As the boardroom and political drama unfolds, Warner Bros Discovery shareholders now face a critical choice between two very different futures for the media conglomerate.
