Paramount, Comcast, and Netflix will need to get back to work to draw up new offers to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. The next round of bids are due by December 1, according to Variety, and the company is looking for higher offers than those originally submitted.
The first round of bids were turned in on November 20, with Warner Bros. Discovery aiming to finalize a transaction by the end of December, according to a report from CNBC earlier this month. Paramount, Comcast, and Netflix submitted their nonbinding offers as the first step in a potential sale.
While considering a sale of all or part of the company, Warner Bros. Discovery has been moving ahead with plans to split the company into two entities – one for the studio and streaming and one for traditional cable channels. That restructuring is targeted for April 2026.
Warner Bros. already rejected an initial unsolicited proposal from Paramount before announcing that the company was officially open to offers. However, Paramount is now reportedly the most likely to get the deal done. Sources for the NY Post say that Paramount was the only company to show interest in both the streaming and studio side of Warner Bros. and the traditional cable networks, including CNN. The NY Post report says that if Paramount agrees to make changes to the news network to make it more friendly to the current administration, the way they did with CBS News, the acquisition would easy move through the regulatory approval process.
Reports say that the companies bidding signed nondisclosure agreements and have been going over Warner Bros. Discovery financials ahead of submitting new offers.