Warner Bros. heading toward a sale: Netflix, Paramount, and Comcast submit offers

The bidding process for the entertainment giant continues, with binding proposals and multi-billion-dollar financing that could speed up a decision in the coming weeks. The streaming power struggle advances, while traditional television prepares its defense.

The sale of Warner Bros. Discovery is entering its decisive phase. According to people familiar with the negotiations, the group is reviewing a new round of improved offers, including a formal proposal from Netflix, in what appears to be a final sprint for the acquisition. Paramount, led by David Ellison and financially backed by his father Larry Ellison, is said to have submitted a strengthened offer supported by a major financing package from Apollo Global Management and capital from the Middle East.

Comcast and Netflix are also in the running, particularly interested in the Warner Bros. film studios and the HBO Max streaming platform. Netflix, in particular, is reportedly working on a multibillion-dollar bridge loan to support the deal. The offers are binding, an element that allows the board of directors to move quickly if the required conditions are met.

Warner Bros. is aiming for a valuation of around 30 dollars per share, compared with the 23.87 dollars recorded at market close, which gives the company a market capitalization of 59 billion dollars. If Netflix or Comcast were to prevail, the group would proceed with the spin-off of its cable channels into Discovery Global, an operation that could be completed by mid-next year.

Streaming vs Broadcasting: the pan-European operation of Mediaset and Prosieben

The creation of strategic alliances within the vast world of streaming platforms has, inevitably, pushed traditional television to take similar steps, aiming to be as capable and prepared as possible to face an increasingly vast and competitive market.

In the European landscape, for example, the Public Tender Offer launched by MFE-Mediaset for the Bavarian network ProSiebenSat ended in early September: the company led by Pier Silvio Berlusconi managed to surpass 60% of its share capital.

For Mediaset, this represents a clear industrial and strategic plan: building an integrated group capable of competing with the major players in streaming. In addition, the company from Cologno aims to capitalize on the German advertising market—the largest in Europe—and to develop synergies with Italy and Spain. Estimates point to benefits ranging from 183 to 419 million euros by 2029, especially in advertising, technology, and platforms.

Mediaset has finally secured leadership of a network that, according to analysts, has struggled in recent years due to limited competitiveness in digital transformation. The Berlusconi family’s television group now presents itself as the first pan-European television platform, integrated across three major markets and projected at a continental level. A project that could open a new phase for the European audiovisual sector, with the primary goal of countering competition from giants such as Netflix, Amazon, and Disney.

Andrea Pelucchi