Paramount, Netflix, Comcast still on the WBD trail as new bid details emerge 

Paramount, Netflix and Comcast all remain in the mix to acquire all or parts of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), with new details emerging about the revised second-round bids submitted on Monday.

David Zaslav

According to reports in Variety and Bloomberg, the Paramount bid for all of WBD is being financed primarily by the Ellison family, and also includes debt financing from Apollo Global, RedBird Capital and a trio of Middle Eastern wealth funds: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the Qatar Investment Authority.

Last month, Paramount disputed a Variety report that claimed Middle Eastern wealth funds were part of the financing for its bid. On Tuesday, Variety said the level of investment from the three funds would not meet the threshold to need approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews deals involving foreign entities for potential threats to national security.

Meanwhile, Netflix has reportedly tabled an all-cash bid for the studio/streaming assets of WBD. As part of its bid, the streaming giant has reportedly told WBD it would continue to release the Warner Bros film slate theatrically and maintain other production agreements with third parties.

Comcast was also among the companies to submit an improved offer by the December 1 deadline. Under its proposal, Comcast would spin out its media entity NBCUniversal into WBD, according to Bloomberg, as part of a primarily stock-based offer for the WBD’s studio/streaming assets.

It is understood that WBD’s board could either accept one of these new offers, or call for a third round of bidding. While Paramount, Netflix and Comcast all appear firmly in the mix, other bids could still emerge from other parties.

Paramount, which has previously had three bids rejected, continues to be viewed as the frontrunner, particularly given that it appears to have the backing of the Trump administration, though Netflix is now being viewed as a more serious contender than at first supposed.

WBD has previously signalled its intention to have this deal process wrapped up by mid-to-late December. The board has left its options open though and could, theoretically, still move ahead with its original plan to split the company into two parts, with studio/streaming on one side and global linear networks on the other.