paramount skydance, comcast and Netflix formally submitted an acquisition proposal for warner bros discovery The deadline for first-round offers is this week, according to a person familiar with the matter.
NBCUniversal’s parent company, Comcast, made a bid only for the film and streaming assets made up of Warner Bros. studios and HBO Max, the people said. The proposal would make NBCUniversal the parent company for WBD assets and would not include an NBCUniversal spinout, as some industry observers had speculated, one of the people said.
Comcast is currently in the process of spinning out its portfolio of cable networks, including CNBC, but retaining NBCUniversal. As of January, its business unit will consist only of broadcast network NBC, streaming service Peacock, Universal Movie Studios, and theme parks.
Comcast’s proposal included a provision that would allow WBD to spin out its own cable networks, including CNN and TNT Sports, at any time before the deal closes, the person said.
Mike Kavanaugh, Comcast’s president and soon-to-be co-CEO, recently telegraphed during an earnings call that the acquisition of studio and streaming assets would be complementary to NBCUniversal. Cavanagh also said the company believes the acquisition is “viable” given the current regulatory environment.
Like Comcast, Netflix bid only for movie and streaming assets, the people said.
Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance has applied again, for the fourth time so far. Paramount Skydance and its advisers have been considering in recent days whether to submit a higher offer than WBD’s previous offer of $23.50 a share, some of the people said.
Netflix’s proposal was expected to result in “disciplinary action” in the bid, one of the people said. Details of the size of all three offers were not immediately clear.
Warner Bros. Discovery has warned bidders that it has received offers and will contact them soon, one of the people said.
Representatives for Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Netflix and Comcast declined to comment.
CNBC previously reported that Warner Bros. Discovery aims to complete the sale by mid-to-late December. Another round of bidding is expected in the coming weeks, some of the people said.
Last month, Warner Bros. Discovery announced it was expanding its strategic review of its business, including a potential sale, while continuing its plan to split into two separate entities: Warner Bros., which includes its movie studio and streaming platform, and Discovery Global, which includes its pay-TV network.
As Warner Bros. Discovery continues to separate, WBD CEO David Zaslav and other executives are open to formalizing the sale process, given the acquisition interest from the newly merged Paramount Skydance.
If the offer for the studio and streaming assets is successful, Discovery Global will proceed with a spin-out, with current WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels becoming CEO.
The Warner Bros. logo appears on the water tower at Warner Bros. Studios on September 12, 2025 in Burbank, California.
Tama Mario | Getty Images
Paramount has already sent multiple letters to WBD’s board of directors explaining why its offer of $23.50 per share for all of WBD’s assets is in the best interest of shareholders and the company itself.
WBD stock rose 1% on Friday, closing at $23.19 per share. The company’s stock price has risen more than 20% since announcing the offering in October.
Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison recently held talks with a Saudi-backed sovereign wealth fund about financing a potential deal, but those conversations are only preliminary and Mr. Ellison and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, are prepared to fully fund the deal, the people said.
Paramount is interested in a deal for WBD as a whole, but the formal sale process opens up the possibility of only some traditional media companies becoming buyers.
— CNBC’s David Faber contributed to this report.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. With Comcast’s planned Versant spinoff, Versant will become CNBC’s new parent company.
