Paramount, Comcast, Netflix submit bids for Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix formally submitted takeover offers for Warner Bros. Discovery this week ahead of a deadline for first-round offers, according to people familiar with the matter.

Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, bid solely for the film and streaming assets, which consists of the Warner Bros. studio and HBO Max, the people said. The offer would see NBCUniversal become the parent of the WBD assets, one of the people said, and would not involve a spinout of NBCUniversal as some in the industry had speculated.

Comcast is currently in the process of spinning out its portfolio of cable networks, which includes CNBC, but will retain NBCUniversal. As of January, that business unit will consist only of the broadcast network NBC, streaming service Peacock, Universal film studio and theme parks.

Comcast’s offer included a clause that would allow WBD to spin out its own cable networks, including CNN and TNT Sports, at any point before the proposed acquisition closes, the person said.

Comcast President and soon-to-be co-CEO Mike Cavanagh recently telegraphed in an earnings call that an acquisition of studio and streaming assets would be complementary to NBCUniversal. Cavanagh also said the company believes a deal would be “viable” in the context of the current regulatory environment.

Like Comcast, Netflix, also bid solely for the film and streaming assets, according to the people familiar.

Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance once again submitted, its fourth to date. In recent days, Paramount Skydance and its advisors had been weighing whether to submit a higher bid than its previous $23.50-per-share offer that WBD rejected, some of the people said.

Netflix’s offer was expected to be “disciplined” with its bid, one of the people said. Details on the size of all three offers weren’t immediately clear.

Warner Bros. Discovery alerted the bidders that it had received the offers and would be back in touch with them soon, one of the people said.

Representatives for Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Netflix and Comcast declined to comment.

Warner Bros. Discovery is aiming to have its sale process wrapped up by mid- to late-December, CNBC previously reported. Another round of bids is expected to occur in the coming weeks, some of the people said.

Last month Warner Bros. Discovery said it was expanding a strategic review of its business to include a potential sale — even as it carries on with a plan to split into two separate entities: Warner Bros., made up of the film studio and streaming platform, and Discovery Global, which would include the company’s pay TV networks.

While Warner Bros. Discovery’s split has been underway, takeover interest from the newly merged Paramount Skydance led WBD CEO David Zaslav and top brass to open up to a formal sale process.

If an offer for the studio and streaming assets were to be successful, Discovery Global would move forward with its spinout and current WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels would become CEO.

Paramount has already sent multiple letters to WBD’s board explaining why its offer of $23.50 per share for all of WBD’s assets is in the best interest of shareholders and the company itself.

WBD’s stock gained 1% Friday to close at $23.19 per share. The company’s share price has increased more than 20% since announcing it was up for sale in October.

Paramount CEO David Ellison recently met with Saudi-backed sovereign funds about financing a potential transaction, although the conversations were only preliminary and Ellison and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, are prepared to fully finance a transaction, people familiar with the matter said.

While Paramount is interested in a deal for the entirety of WBD, the formal sale process has opened up the possibility of a buyer for only part of the legacy media company.

— CNBC’s David Faber contributed to this report.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant.