Mystery ‘American media company’ wanted to buy Warner Bros Discovery at $25 billion in cash, new filing shows

Warner Bros Discovery on Wednesday disclosed that a fourth company had also submitted a bid for acquiring it in November, in addition to Netflix, Paramount Skydance and an unnamed Company A.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Warner Bros. Discovery stated that it received offers for all or part of its business from Netflix and Paramount on 20 November. Apart from this, undisclosed Companies A and C also made offers to acquire it.

According to a CNBC report, Company A could be Comcast because the filing states that the bid was to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and streaming assets, a move similar to Comcast's offer. Warner Bros. Discovery did not mention the name of the company.

However, the identity of Company C could not be disclosed. Warner Bros. Discovery did not provide many details, but described it as an American media company.

What did Company C offer Warner Bros Discovery?

Warner Bros. Discovery has disclosed the offer made by Company C.

It said in the filing that on 23 October, the founder of Company C called Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels to signal its “interest in a potential transaction with the WBD Global Networks Business”.

Warner Bros. Discovery received preliminary bids from Netflix, Paramount Skydance, Company A and Company C on 20 November.

Company C proposed acquiring Discovery Global and 20% of the WBD Streaming and Studios Business, including Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO Max streaming service. The offer was to buy these businesses at $25 billion in cash, the filing said.

The bid by this unnamed company also proposed a 90-day exclusivity period.

However, the bid did not advance to the next round — a meeting on 21 November with WBD Chairman Samuel DiPiazza and the company's senior management and advisors.

“The attendees discussed appropriate feedback for each bidder, with the intention of keeping PSKY, Netflix and Company A engaged in the process and improving their proposals. WBD determined that Company C’s proposal was not actionable at that time,” the filing read.

Comcast's offer

Meanwhile, Comcast Corp.’s bid to merge its NBCUniversal department with Warner Bros. Discovery valued the company's interest in the combined businesses at $81 billion.

According to the filing, Comcast, which is likely to be what WBD describes as Company A, proposed that the streaming and studio assets of Warner Bros will be valued at $35.43 a share.

However, Warner Bros Discovery accepted the buyout bid from Netflix, which offered $27.75 a share in cash and stock to acquire the business.