Highlights
- Paramount Skydance has raised its bid for Warner Bros Discovery to $31 per share, up from $30.
- Warner Bros said Paramount's offer "could reasonably be expected to lead to a superior proposal".
- Netflix has four days to make a counter-offer after Warner Bros agreed to engage in further talks with Paramount.
Netflix faces pressure
Netflix, which would have four days to make a counter-offer, did not immediately comment.
In a recent BBC interview, Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos declined to say whether the company was prepared to engage in a bidding war, calling the back-and-forth "part of the process."
He added "We very much like the deal where we're at right now, we're very disciplined buyers and we always have been."
Warner Bros had originally agreed in December to sell its film and streaming divisions, including HBO, to Netflix in a deal worth $27.75 per share or roughly $82 bn, with the remainder of the business including traditional television networks and CNN — to be spun off as an independent company.
Bidding war looms
Warner Bros said its board had not yet made a final determination. Industry analyst Luke Stillman, managing director at Madison and Wall, said he believed Warner Bros was deliberately engineering a bidding war, predicting the price could ultimately reach as high as $33 per share.
Lawmakers have raised concerns about both proposals, citing monopoly considerations and the wider impact on the entertainment industry.
In a Washington hearing earlier this month, Sarandos faced questions about potential price rises and the future of cinemas, while the Ellison family's ties to the Trump administration have drawn attention from Democrats.
