Paramount rebuffed in bid to acquire AEW media partner Warner Bros. Discovery
The Warner Bros. Discovery Board has declined to accepted a $108 billion all-encompassing bid from Paramount/Skydance and will be moving forward with Netflix’s initial offer for part of the company instead.
Announced via a press release Wednesday morning, WBD felt the deal offered by Paramount “is not in the best interests of WBD and its shareholders and does not meet the criteria of a “Superior Proposal” under the terms of WBD’s merger agreement with Netflix announced on December 5, 2025. The Warner Bros. Discovery Board unanimously reiterates its recommendation in support of the Netflix combination and recommends that WBD shareholders reject PSKY’s offer.”
Paramount stated later that they will go no higher than their offer.
In their lengthy letter to shareholders requesting they do not tender their shares to Paramount/Skydance and an SEC filing explaining why they were turning it down, WBD added “none of these reasons will be a surprise to PSKY given our clear, and oft-repeated, feedback on their six prior proposals. The terms of the Netflix merger are superior. The PSKY offer provides inadequate value and imposes numerous, significant risks and costs on WBD.”
Paramount was looking to acquire all of WBD which includes TBS, TNT and HBO Max where AEW currently airs. Netflix’s $82.7 billion offer is for the WB studio, DC, HBO Max, HBO, and the associated IP. The heavily scrutinized deal will come under review from regulatory entities and potentially wouldn’t be completed until after the WBD split in Q3 of 2026 that will see their cable networks and Discovery split into a separate company.
Netflix’s multi-year global partnership with WWE began in January 2025 while AEW’s current media rights deal with WBD that also began this year runs through 2027 with an option year for 2028.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.