Netflix may switch to all-cash WBD offer to fend off Paramount challenge – reports  

Netflix is reportedly exploring a revised all-cash offer for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD)’s studio and streaming assets, as Paramount continues to turn up the pressure with its own hostile takeover bid.

Ted Sarandos

The amended deal, which was reported by both Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), would see the streaming giant putting forth an amended all-cash bid, though would not see it increasing the total value of the offer.

Netflix already has a definitive agreement in place to buy WBD’s streaming and studio assets in a cash-and-stock deal worth US$27.75 per share. Under that pact, WBD shareholders are set to receive US$23.25 in cash and US$4.50 in Netflix common stock.

While the streamer has reiterated its confidence that the deal, as it currently stands, will pass muster with WBD shareholders and regulators in the US and Europe, Paramount has escalated its attempts to derail the existing definitive agreement.

The David Ellison-led company has proposed an all-cash offer to acquire all of WBD for US$30 per share, a price tag Paramount leaders have claimed is superior to Netflix’s. Earlier this week, Paramount filed a lawsuit against WBD as it seeks to force WBD’s board to engage with its $30-per-share offer. Paramount also said it plans to initiate a proxy battle by nominating a slate of directors who will “solicit against the approval of the Netflix transaction.” Paramount set a deadline of January 21 for WBD stockholders to tender their shares.

For its part, WBD has repeatedly said that Paramount’s offer is not better than Netflix’s. It has also gone several steps further, stating that it sees red flags in Paramount’s financing plan. It has also pointed to Paramount’s “junk” credit rating, versus Netflix’s “investment-grade balance sheet” and US$400bn market cap as rationale for its decision.

Netflix, which is led by co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, said last week that it is already “engaging” with the US Department of Justice and the European Commission as it begins regulatory processes that could take between 12 and 18 months.

American president Donald Trump has also said he will be “involved” in whether the deal gets approved in the US. Trump praised Sarandos in December while also saying the deal “could be a problem” due to the combined market share of Netflix and Warner Bros.

Most recently, Trump reposted a story from conservative news outlet One America News titled ‘Stop the Netflix Cultural Takeover’ on his social media platform Truth Social.