Fiction
Paramount raises $30-a-share cash offer for Warner Bros. Discovery
Enhanced offer adds ticking fee, break-fee cover and debt backstops as bidder claims faster regulatory path
LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK: Paramount Skydance has sharpened its takeover pitch for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), bolstering its $30-per-share all-cash tender offer with fresh financial sweeteners and a loud message to shareholders: more money, more certainty, less waiting.
The revised proposal introduces a $0.25-per-share quarterly “ticking fee” from January 1, 2027 for every quarter the deal remains open, worth roughly $650m in cash each quarter. Paramount is also offering to fund WBD’s $2.8bn termination fee to Netflix, shoulder up to $1.5bn of potential debt-refinancing costs and provide solutions around WBD’s $15bn bridge loan.
The bid values WBD’s equity at $78bn and enterprise value at $108bn, including net debt and non-controlling interests. Paramount says the offer is fully financed, backed by $43.6bn in equity commitments from the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners, plus $54bn in debt from Bank of America, Citigroup and Apollo. Larry Ellison has provided an irrevocable personal guarantee of $43.3bn covering the equity financing and potential damages.
Paramount certified compliance on February 9, 2026 with the US Department of Justice’s “second request” for information, triggering a 10-day waiting period under US merger rules. It also secured foreign investment clearance in Germany on January 27, 2026 and says it is engaging with regulators in the US, EU and UK. The company argues its deal raises few competition concerns, unlike Netflix, which it labels dominant in streaming and likely to face a long and uncertain review.
The media group is framing its pitch as a cleaner alternative to Netflix’s agreed transaction with WBD, where shareholder consideration is tied to the future financial state and debt load of a spun-off Discovery Global. According to WBD’s own proxy, the Netflix cash component ranges from $21.23 to $27.75 per share depending on debt levels.
Paramount argues that to reach the top end, Discovery Global would need to carry $17bn of debt, a level it calls unrealistic for a declining linear networks business. Citing peer Versant Media, trading near 3.5x EV/EBITDA with about 1.25x net leverage, Paramount says Discovery Global could end up with negligible equity value. On its maths, Netflix’s effective value could slip to about $26.75 per share, or as low as $23.20 if debt is reset to more conservative levels. It also notes WBD advisers produced a discounted cash-flow low of 72 cents per share for the spin-off.
To neutralise WBD board concerns, Paramount is offering to backstop a debt exchange to avoid a $1.5bn bondholder fee, reimburse that fee if both the exchange and the merger fail, and cover any incremental bridge-loan refinancing costs. It is also willing to match Netflix’s interim operating covenants and discuss protections if Discovery Global underperforms.
Paramount has urged the WBD board to declare that its revised bid could reasonably lead to a superior proposal, a step that would allow formal engagement under WBD’s agreement with Netflix. At the same time, it plans to solicit proxies against the Netflix deal at WBD’s special shareholder meeting and has called on investors to tender their shares in support of its offer.
David Ellison, chairman and chief executive of Paramount, said: “The additional benefits of our superior $30 per share, all-cash offer clearly underscore our strong and unwavering commitment to delivering the full value WBD shareholders deserve. We are backing this offer with billions of dollars, providing certainty in value, a clear regulatory path and protection against market volatility.”
Ellison added in his letter to the board that the goal is “superior value and certainty”, arguing the revised terms eliminate what WBD had called $1.79 per share of potential value leakage. Paramount, he wrote, is prepared to work collaboratively to resolve any remaining concerns and bring the process to a rapid conclusion.
The fight now shifts to WBD’s board and shareholders, who must weigh a fixed $30 in hand against a variable Netflix package tied to a shrinking cable future. In a bruising media landscape, certainty is becoming its own currency, and Paramount is bidding as if it knows it.
Fiction
Banijay merges with All3Media in $6.65 billion deal
Marco Bassetti will lead the combined company as CEO
PARIS: Six years after acquiring Endemol Shine at the height of the pandemic, Banijay has struck again. The European production heavyweight is merging with All3Media in a deal that will create a television titan with $6.65 billion in revenue and redraw the contours of a fast-consolidating market.
The combined company will trade under the Banijay name and be owned 50 per cent each by Banijay Group and RedBird IMI, which acquired All3Media in 2024. The transaction is expected to close by autumn, subject to regulatory approvals.
Banijay Entertainment CEO Marco Bassetti, will take the top job at the enlarged group. All3Media CEO Jane Turton becomes deputy CEO. RedBird IMI CEO Jeff Zucker will serve as chairman.
The logic is scale. Broadcasters are commissioning less, streamers are tightening budgets and global buyers are fewer but bigger. Against that backdrop, heft matters. The merged entity will generate roughly $6.65 billion in revenues based on 2024 figures, giving it sharper elbows in rights negotiations and deeper pockets for franchise-building.
“Entrepreneurialism, ambition and creativity” remain core to Banijay’s DNA, Bassetti said, flagging plans to invest more heavily in new intellectual property, live events and emerging platforms. Turton struck a similarly bullish note, pointing to All3Media’s journey from a 2003 start-up to a global supplier of hit formats and high-end drama.
Between them, the two groups control a formidable slate. Banijay’s catalogue spans MasterChef, Big Brother, Survivor, Black Mirror, Peaky Blinders and Deal or No Deal. All3Media’s labels include Studio Lambert, producer of The Traitors and Squid Game: The Challenge; Two Brothers, behind The Tourist; and Neal Street, currently producing the forthcoming Beatles biopics directed by Sam Mendes for Sony.
The back catalogue is equally muscular. Banijay Rights holds some 220,000 hours, while All3Media International adds around 35,000 hours, forming one of the industry’s largest libraries.
Banijay, controlled by French entrepreneur Stéphane Courbit and listed in Amsterdam, counts more than 130 production companies across 25 territories. All3Media operates over 40 labels, with strong positions in the UK, US and Germany. The enlarged group will also lean into live entertainment, building on Banijay’s Balich Wonder Studio, which produced the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, and the Independents.
The deal marks a shift in tone. As recently as October, Bassetti suggested that mergers and acquisitions were not a priority. But the drumbeat of consolidation has grown louder. Mediawan has moved for Peter Chernin’s North Road. David Ellison’s Paramount has agreed to a $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros, with plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount plus. ITV has explored selling its media and entertainment arm to Comcast-owned Sky, though talks have reportedly slowed.
