Paramount escalates Warner Bros. takeover bid in direct challenge to Netflix

NEW YORK — Paramount has extended its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery for a second time, pushing the deadline for shareholders to Feb. 20 as it prepares for a looming proxy battle.

The offer remains at $30 per share, valuing the media giant at $77.9 billion, or $108 billion when factoring in debt.

Paramount said late Wednesday that more than 168.5 million Warner shares have been tendered so far. That figure remains significantly below the 50% threshold required to seize control of the company.

Warner’s board of directors has unanimously rejected the bid. Instead, the board is backing a $72 billion cash deal to merge its studio and streaming operations with Netflix.

Warner officials stated that more than 93% of its shareholders have already rejected Paramount’s plan.

In an escalation of the conflict, Paramount filed preliminary paperwork to launch a proxy fight. The move seeks to convince shareholders to vote against the rival Netflix agreement.

Paramount’s proposal covers all of Warner’s assets, including news outlets like CNN. Netflix is only pursuing the company’s studio and streaming divisions.

The deal is expected to face intense antitrust scrutiny from regulators.

The battle for control of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has transcended typical Wall Street maneuvering to become a seminal conflict shaping the future of the American media landscape. This is a head-to-head strategic collision. Paramount is pursuing a strategy of critical mass, seeking to consolidate WBD’s entire portfolio—spanning film to news (CNN)—to engineer a heavyweight competitor capable of rivaling Disney. Netflix, by contrast, is executing a more surgical play: a targeted acquisition of library content and streaming infrastructure to cement its dominance while bypassing the albatross of declining legacy cable networks.

Paramount’s decision to launch a proxy fight indicates a " scorched-earth" approach to corporate governance. This isn't merely a bid to sway shareholders with a premium; it is an aggressive attempt to overhaul WBD’s leadership and seize the levers of management.

Adding a layer of volatility to the deal is the intensifying politicization of federal oversight. The potential for a second Donald Trump administration introduces significant uncertainty into antitrust enforcement, where political will may override traditional regulatory benchmarks. The prospect of merging CNN—a frequent target of Trump’s criticism—with Paramount’s CBS presents a complex political calculus that could ultimately dictate whether the transaction receives regulatory clearance or is blocked on the basis of shifting executive branch priorities.

For Vietnamese-American families, this industry shakeup will directly change the way we unwind after a long day at the nail salon or a busy shift at the phở restaurant. This merger means that services like HBO Max could be consolidated or rebranded, which will inevitably impact our content libraries and monthly subscription costs. With the massive catalogs of Warner Bros. and HBO soon moving under one roof, the entertainment landscape is being redrawn for our community, fundamentally reshaping how families from Little Saigon to the suburbs gather around the screen.