Media Giant Bypasses Board With Direct Shareholder Offer in Battle for Warner Assets
Paramount Skydance launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery on December 8, 2025. The company offered shareholders $30 per share in all cash. According to NBC News, this values the entire company at $108.4 billion. The bid came just days after Netflix announced its deal to acquire Warner's studio and streaming assets for $27.75 per share.
CEO David Ellison bypassed Warner's board and went straight to shareholders. The company secured $54 billion in debt commitments from Bank of America, Citi, and Apollo Global. Paramount's offer includes Warner's cable networks like CNN and TNT, which Netflix excluded from its bid. Ellison never received a response to his final $30 per share offer submitted December 4.
Competition Concerns Drive Strategic Move
The hostile bid reflects deeper concerns about streaming market consolidation. Paramount argued that combining Netflix with HBO Max would create a dominant player. The merged entity would control approximately 430 million global subscribers. Disney, the next largest competitor, has just under 200 million subscribers.
Paramount positioned itself as protecting Hollywood's competitive landscape. Ellison committed to releasing more than 30 theatrical films annually. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos previously called movie theaters an "outdated concept." The competing visions for content distribution became central to the takeover battle. Warner's board stated it would review Paramount's proposal within 10 business days.
Streaming Industry Reaches Consolidation Tipping Point
The Warner Bros Discovery sale represents a broader industry transformation. Fortune reports that streaming is consolidating into a "Big Three" model. Netflix holds 21% of the U.S. streaming market. Amazon Prime controls 22%, while Disney commands a smaller but substantial share.
Smaller platforms face mounting pressure to exit or consolidate. Paramount+ has 79 million subscribers, Apple TV+ approximately 45 million. The gap between top-tier and mid-tier services continues widening. Industry experts predict lagging services will license content to larger platforms or cease operations.
Market concentration raises regulatory questions. A Netflix-Warner combination would exceed 30% market share. The Department of Justice's 2023 antitrust guidelines identify this threshold as triggering anticompetitive concerns. Hollywood unions warned the deal could eliminate jobs and reduce creative opportunities. Both bidders face scrutiny from federal regulators who must balance industry efficiency against market power.
Further Reading
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