Just hours after Warner Bros. Discovery admitted it’s open for acquisition offers, the company has rejected a second offer from Paramount Skydance in as many days.
Deadline reports that, according to multiple sources, the latest bid from Paramount Skydance came in at $24 a share – up from $20 just over a week ago. Both have reportedly been rebuffed.
Whether Skydance will try for a third time is not clear, as spokespersons for both companies declined to comment to the trade.
Both companies are slated to report quarterly results in the next two to three weeks, with talk at those meetings expected to touch upon potential mergers or acquisitions.
Netflix held its reported earnings earlier today with co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters talking about it. Peters called a Netflix bid for Warner Bros. Discovery ‘unlikely’. Comcast would face major antitrust hurdles.
Amazon or Apple could be interested, but both would very likely wait until the company undergoes its split next year which will separate it into two companies – Warner Bros. (studio & streamer) and Discovery Global (linear television) – and would bid on just the Warner Bros. part.
However, Wall Street generally expects Paramount to prevail.
