Paramount Skydance desperately wants to steal Warner Bros. Discovery from Netflix

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is patiently waiting for company investors to approve the $108.4 billion all-cash offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, following the announcement that Warner Bros. Discovery is being gutted and sold off in portions to Netflix.

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Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Netflix was acquiring many key parts of Warner Bros. Discovery for a healthy $82.7 billion. The announcement was made in December 2025, and only a few weeks later, Paramount Skydance made a competing offer of $108.4 billion.

The difference between the Netflix offer and the Paramount offer is that Netflix wants portions of Warner Bros. Discovery, while Paramount Skydance is willing to take the whole company. Warner Bros. rejected Paramount Skydance's offer, citing concerns with how the company would be able to fund the acquisition.

For example, if the deal is approved by regulators, Netflix will acquire Warner Bros film studios, New Line Cinema, HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros. theme parks, game development studios, and a few TV channels such as TNT. However, Netflix won't be taking the collection of reality TV and news programming, which falls under Warner Bros. Global Networks. To throw a wrench in the deal between Netflix and Warner Bros., Paramount Skydance has offered $25.7 billion more than Netflix and said it will take everything.

Additionally, Paramount Skydance urged Warner Bros. shareholders to reject the Netflix deal. To add even more pressure to the decision, Paramount Skydance is suing Warner Bros. for allegedly failing to provide Paramount with the reasons Warner Bros. rejected its offer. Furthermore, Paramount Skydance believes regulators are more likely to approve its offer than Netflix's, as Paramount's ownership of Warner Bros. won't "entrench Netflix's market dominance."

In an effort to ensure Paramount Skydance isn't forgotten, company CEO David Ellison announced that Paramount is extending its offer deadline to February 20, 2026, to give investors more time to make a decision. The previous deadline was January 21, 2026.