Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) stock experienced a dramatic surge on Monday, 8 December, with shares jumping 6.7% to $27.84 as of 9:58 AM EST after Paramount launched a hostile bid to acquire the media major.
Paramount's stock also rose 4%, reaching $13.90 on NASDAQ during the same time. Netflix's stock has a steep decline of almost 4% to $96.38 following the announcement.
Paramount Skydance Corp on Monday placed a challenging bid of $108.4 billion to potentially acquire Warner Bros Discovery through an all-cash offer.
It has offered to pay $30 per share in cash to potentially acquire all of the outstanding shares of WBD, including the company's Global Networks segment, according to the official announcement on 8 December 2025.
How much did Netflix offer?
On 5 December, Netflix said that it has agreed to acquire the film and television studios, alongside the streaming division, of WBD in a deal worth $72 billion.
There was a fierce bidding war between Paramount and Netflix, which the latter ultimately won after offering close to $28 per share. Paramount Skydance had put up around $24 per share with an aim to buy the entirety of WBD, including the cable TV entities planned for a separate spinoff.
Netflix argues that the planned spinoff of WBD’s cable assets, including CNN — which is not included in the Netflix deal — will add several dollars per share in value. Taken together, Netflix contends that its deal delivers greater long-term value than Paramount’s, CNN reported.
Paramount, unlike Netflix, is seeking to buy all of WBD . The company says its $108.4 billion offer for all of Warner Bros Discovery outweighs Netflix's $82.7 billion, which doesn’t include the value of the company’s cable channels, CNN said in the report.
Is Netflix's deal better? Here's what the WBD board said earlier
While accepting Netflix’s deal last week, WBD’s board came to a final conclusion that Netflix's deal was better in terms of providing long-term value. It also maintained that the company's cable assets would be worth more as a standalone entity rather than bundled with the movie studio and HBO.
It has long been argued that the cable assets will be worth more when spun off than combined with the movie studio and HBO, unlocking significant value for shareholders.
On Monday, Paramount said WBD shareholders should decide on the latest proposal, CNN reported.
