So it begins!
We had been hearing rumors for quite some time that Warner Bros. Discovery might be weighing up potential buyers, and this time last month, we got confirmation that the company is indeed for sale.
WBD CEO David Zaslav revealed that they have received "unsolicited interest from multiple parties" for the entire company, as well as for Warner Bros. separately, and were initiating a review of strategic alternatives.
"While Warner Bros. Discovery (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: WBD) continues to advance its previously announced separation of Warner Bros. and Discovery Global, its Board of Directors today announced it has initiated a review of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value, in light of unsolicited interest the Company has received from multiple parties for both the entire company and Warner Bros. Through this process, the Warner Bros. Discovery Board will evaluate a broad range of strategic options, which will include continuing to advance the Company’s planned separation to completion by mid-2026, a transaction for the entire company, or separate transactions for its Warner Bros. and/or Discovery Global businesses.
As part of the review, the Company will also consider an alternative separation structure that would enable a merger of Warner Bros. and spin-off of Discovery Global to our shareholders. “We continue to make important strides to position our business to succeed in today’s evolving media landscape by advancing our strategic initiatives, returning our studios to industry leadership, and scaling HBO Max globally. We took the bold step of preparing to separate the Company into two distinct, leading media companies, Warner Bros. and Discovery Global, because we strongly believed this was the best path forward.”
Though no specific interested parties were named at the time, Comcast and Netflix were believed to be among them. Now, THR is reporting that Paramount, Comcast and Netflix each officially submitted bids for some or all of the company. These first-round bids were nonbinding, but things are "likely to evolve over the coming weeks."
For now, Paramount, led by CEO David Ellison, is believed to be the only bidder that wants to acquire the entire WBD portfolio, which includes the film and TV studios HBO and HBO Max, as well as cable channels like TNT, TBS, CNN, and HGTV.
There have been reports that both Paramount and Comcast have been seeking financial backing from the Middle East. Paramount has denied this, but more than one reputable outlet ran with the story, and there's no smoke without fire.
Whichever way this ultimately shakes out, the deal is certain to have a massive impact on the entertainment industry as we know it. What would a sale of the entire company mean for DC Studios?
Despite rumors that WBD is having "buyer's remorse" about hiring James Gunn to shepherd in a new DCU era and may intend to use any potential purchase or merger as an excuse to fire him, it's highly unlikely that DC Studios or its current movie/TV slate would be impacted to any significant degree. Gunn has already made it clear that his contract would remain secure one way or the other.
The mention of Netflix as a potential buyer has caught the attention of the #RestoreTheSnyderVerse faithful, who also believe that there might be something to Zack Snyder continuing to share photographs from his time working on the likes of Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.
There will be another round where bidders will be asked if they want to submit final, binding offers. WBD believes the sale process could conclude by December.