Nine days after rejecting a takeover offer from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it will entertain offers to sell itself even as it moves toward a split into two separate companies.
The media giant said Tuesday that it was expanding its strategic review of the company after receiving “unsolicited interest from multiple parties” for both the entirety of the company and Warner Bros.
“After receiving interest from multiple parties, we have initiated a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to identify the best path forward to unlock the full value of our assets,” David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement
Paramount had previously offered “around” $20 per share for the parent company of HBO/HBO Max, Warner Bros. Entertainment, CNN, TNT, TBS and more. Shares of Warner Bros Discovery jumped 8% in pre-market trading Tuesday following the announcement to just under that $20 mark.
CNBC reported Tuesday that Comcast and Netflix have also expressed interest in some or all of WBD.
Warner Bros. recently announced plans to split into two companies, one that would focus on its global TV networks, the other focused on streaming and studios. Work on that separation, which is scheduled to be completed by mid-2026, will continue.
“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,” Zaslav said. “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.”
The announcement Tuesday follows comments by Zaslav last month in which he affirmed his bullish view on the company’s future, saying HBO Max will be in 150 million homes by next year and calling the streaming service undervalued.
“The fact that this is quality — and that’s true across our company, motion picture, TV production and and streaming quality — we all we think that gives us a chance to raise price ,” he said . “We think we’re way underpriced. We’re going to take our time.”
If Paramount makes another bid for Warner that is accepted by the company, it would be something of a full-circle moment. Warner Bros. last year came close to purchasing Paramount , but the two companies could not come to financial terms on the deal.
