Netflix has revised its $82.7bn offer for Warner Bros Discovery by switching to an all-cash deal, aiming to speed approval and fend off a rival bid from Paramount Skydance.
The revised proposal keeps the valuation at $27.75 per share but removes shares from the structure, which Netflix says gives investors greater certainty and allows a shareholder vote as early as April. The WBD board continues to unanimously back Netflix’s offer.
Under the deal, Netflix would acquire Warner Bros studios and HBO, while WBD shareholders would also receive stakes in a spun-off global networks business including CNN and Discovery Channel.
Paramount is pressing ahead with a higher, $108.4bn hostile bid for the whole company and is attempting to block the Netflix deal through a proxy fight, but a Delaware judge has already rejected one of its legal challenges.
