WBD wants potential buyers to increase offers in second round of M&A bids, sets Dec 1 deadline

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has reportedly set a deadline of December 1 for potential buyers to submit improved multi-billion-dollar bids to acquire the company.

David Zaslav

According to Bloomberg, WBD wants suitors such as Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix to sweeten the pie in a second round of offers for the David Zaslav-run media giant.

It is believed that should an increased bid from one of the potential buyers interest WBD, it would lead to a period of exclusive negotiations with one of the companies.

The December 1 deadline is less than two weeks after the first round of offers were submitted by last Thursday, November 20, with WBD apparently keen to have the sales process wrapped up by Christmas.

Last month, WBD announced that it had received M&A interest from “multiple parties” and would evaluate its strategic options.

David Ellison-owned Paramount aims to acquire the whole company, including its global linear channels business. Reuters reported in October that WBD had rebuffed a mostly cash offer from Paramount that valued the HBO owner at around US$60bn.

Comcast and Netflix, meanwhile, are said to be more focused on WBD’s studios and streaming operations, rather than traditional TV assets.

Should Netflix be successful in its acquisition bid, it would continue licensing the century-old studio’s library to third parties.

According to Bloomberg, Netflix’s offer includes a vow to continue to produce shows that would be licensed to third parties.

Netflix has historically been strictly opposed to selling its content to third-party platforms. While it has been hugely successful at acquiring shows from outside sellers, including titles like Suits and Prison Break, and helping them find new audiences on Netflix, it has not been willing to sell its own content to third parties. That could all change if it becomes the owner of WBD’s massive library.

While Netflix appears to be officially in the hunt for WBD, investors have appeared somewhat sceptical, concerned that a costly acquisition of this magnitude – something that is not in Netflix’s historical playbook – will be a distraction for management.

Many analysts have characterised WBD as not being a “must-have” for Netflix, while rivals Paramount, which has already made multiple offers, and Comcast have more to gain by taking control of WBD.

Paramount remains the consensus frontrunner, with the backing of tech billionaire Larry Ellison and ties to the Trump administration viewed as key advantages.

At the same time, WBD is in the process of splitting into two parts, with streaming/studios on one side and linear networks on the other. It has said it is prepared to forge ahead with the planned separation if deal talks do not yield the results it expects, however it appears increasingly likely that a sale of all or parts of the company will take place.