Warner Bros Discovery receives second-round bids

Netflix, Paramount Skydance and Comcast have made binding offers for parts or all of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), amid a second round of bidding for the US studio.

Paramount Skydance is seeking to buy the entirety of the company, while Netflix and Comcast are looking to buy the studio and streamers divisions. The three companies had all previously made non-binding preliminary bids in late November.

Bloomberg reported on Monday that Netflix had submitted an all-cash offer, with US reports suggesting that WBD chief exec remains confident a deal can be completed by the end of the year.

Regulatory approval will take far longer, however, with some estimates putting a timeline of a year on the process.

WBD is reportedly running the M&A process in-house and, while offers are formally binding, there remains a limited amount of flexibilty for the right buyer.

Paramount Skydance, Netflix and NBCUniversal owner Comcast are seen as the leading contenders for WBD, which formally put itself on the block in October.

That came after three bids from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance were rejected.

Just how the WBD negotiations move ahead remains to be seen, with the HBO and DC Comics outfit open to approaches for all and parts of the business.

Alongside the M&A process is the ongoing reorganisation of WBD, which chief exec David Zaslav unveiled last year. The move will see the US studio splitting the company in two, with Zaslav confirming earlier this month that the process would continue alongside sale talks.

Netflix, Comcast and Paramount Skydance appointed investment banks in recent months to gain access to WBD’s data room in preparation to bid, while other potential buyers include Amazon MGM Studios.

There has been no word on any other bidders, but Disney ruled itself out last month.