Warner Bros Discovery deal deadline looms

Paramount Skydance, Netflix and Comcast are emerging as the three leading suitors for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), as the deadline for preliminary bids nears.

WBD formally put itself on the block in October, having received three bids from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance, which were rejected.

Interested parties now have until 20 November to submit opening offers, which are non-binding and act as the entry point to the process.

A second round of binding offers will then be made, with WBD hoping to have a buyer lined up by Christmas.

However, the US studio is also splitting the company in two and chief exec David Zaslav told investors earlier this month that the process would continue alongside sale negotiations.

As part of the strategy, streaming and studios are being moved into a David Zaslav-led Warner Bros unit. Linear networks are to be housed in a separate entity called Discovery Global, led by WBD’s current CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels.

Netflix and Comcast have appointed investment banks to gain access to WBD’s so-called data room, but both are only interested in picking up the studios and streaming assets.

Paramount Skydance is looking at acquiring the entire company, while other potential buyers include Amazon MGM Studios. Disney all but ruled itself out last week.

Comcast’s chief exec Brian Roberts, meanwhile, was in Saudi Arabia last week according to US reports to meet with officials from its Public Investment Fund (PIF), as he explores options for the NBCUniversal owner’s potential bid.

PIF recently acquired video games giant Electronic Arts in September for $55bn and the Warner Bros Games division is among assets being sold by WBD.

Any deal will require regulatory approval and the Writers Guild of America has already said a sale to “Paramount or another major studio or streamer would be a disaster for writers, for consumers, and for competition.”

Politicians have also been voicing their concerns at further consolidation, with Republican Darrell Issa, who represents California, warning of competition concerns if a deal with Netflix moves ahead.

“Netflix is already the dominant streaming platform in the United States and permitting it to absorb a major competitor raises antitrust concerns that could result in a harm to consumers,” he claimed.