Paramount Skydance has renewed its pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery with an updated bid. The updated offer aims to address earlier concerns reported by the target’s board. The proposal now comes with strengthened financing commitments. It repositions the offer as a superior alternative to an existing Netflix agreement.
Paramount revises its strategy with an updated offer for Warner Bros. Discovery
The new proposal increases the credibility of Paramount Skydance’s $108 billion all-cash proposal by adding an irrevocable personal guarantee from Larry Ellison. The commitment covers $40.4 billion. It also ensures continuous funding even if other backers withdraw. Ellison, founder of Oracle and a key supporter of Skydance, led by his son David Ellison, has also restricted any transfer of family trust assets unless the deal remains pending.
Further, the updated terms address the demand for the board’s stronger financial promise. Warner Bros. Discovery had earlier rejected Paramount’s bid. They also urged the shareholders to decline. The reason behind the decline was an existing merger agreement with Netflix , which is valued at $82.7 billion. The WBD board said Paramount’s earlier proposal did not qualify as a superior offer and, therefore, they had to decline it.
Strengthened financing and revised guarantees may favor the bidder
In the official response, Paramount has criticized the negotiation process of the media giant. It further adds that the request for a personal guarantee emerged only after WBD agreed to what it called an inferior Netflix transaction. Moreover, the new terms promote transparency by publishing trust assets. The terms include loosening transaction conditions and raises the regulatory reverse termination fee to $5.8 billion.
Because of the new additions, Paramount’s bid finally matches Netflix’s protection promise for deal certainty. It also keeps in mind the prior concerns of the board. The offer expires on January 21, 2026. Until then, Warner Bros. Discovery’s board must decide whether to change its earlier committed position or not.
