Warner Bros Discovery draws strengthened offers, including cash-heavy bid from Netflix

Warner Bros Discovery has received a second round of bids, including a mostly cash proposal from Netflix, as the auction process moves into what could be its concluding phase in the coming days or weeks, a source familiar with the matter informed Reuters on Monday. According to the Reuters source, bankers representing Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix worked through the weekend to refine and increase their offers for all or parts of Warner Bros Discovery.

The bids submitted are binding, giving the company’s board the ability to approve a transaction swiftly if the terms align, although they have not yet been described as final. Both Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery declined to comment on the development. Bloomberg News first reported the updated round of offers.

Warner Bros Discovery last week asked bidders to return with enhanced proposals by 1 December after receiving initial buyout bids from Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix. Reuters previously reported exclusively that the company’s board had rejected Paramount’s mainly cash offer of nearly $24 per share, valuing the business at around $60 billion, before publicly confirming it would review strategic options for the studio.

The parent of HBO and CNN revealed in October that it was exploring a potential sale. Any transaction involving Warner Bros Discovery would further consolidate a media sector already reshaped by major deals, most recently the $8.4 billion merger between Skydance Media and Paramount Global, which followed months of political scrutiny and shareholder pressure.

The studio, known for franchises such as Harry Potter and DC Comics, announced in June that it planned to reorganise by next year into separate studio-centric and cable-focused divisions, a move intended to create clearer separation between its expanding streaming operations and its weaker cable business.