Just when you’d begun to accept a future where your favorite Warner Bros. titles would start popping up on Netflix, Paramount has deployed a fresh attempt to take control of the deal. And this time, the price it’s dangling is so high, Warner Bros. has actually decided to entertain the offer.
This news comes days after director James Cameron spoke out against Netflix taking control of Warner Bros., amplifying concerns about the streamer’s pledge to keep movies in theaters for a set number of days—something Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has insisted is genuine.
Now, it seems that Paramount’s persistence—which has grown more intense as Warner Bros. inched closer to finalizing things with Netflix—may have a glimmer of a chance at paying off. As Deadline reports, the Warner Bros. Board of Directors has just announced that Paramount Skydance’s new bid could potentially lead to a “Company Superior Proposal,” according to terms outlined in Warner Bros. Discovery’s merger agreement with Netflix.
It’s important to note that nothing has been decided yet. According to Deadline, “WBD clarified that its board has not made a determination as to whether the revised PSKY proposal is, in fact, superior to the merger with Netflix, but the idea that it potentially could be.”
Warner Bros.’ next step is to enter further talks with Paramount. “If or when the board ultimately determines it has a superior proposal in hand from Paramount, Netflix will have four business days to negotiate with WBD and to propose any revisions to its own transaction,” Deadline writes.
“If or when is key,” since the Netflix agreement WBD has seemed pretty set on remains in place for now.
What’s in Paramount’s new offer, which builds on the company’s unsolicited takeover attempt that began last year? For shareholders, the biggest detail is probably “an increased purchase price of $31 a share in cash,” though there’s more involved on top of that as part of the massive proposed merger.
According to Variety, that includes “a daily ticking fee of 25 cents per quarter beginning after Sept. 30, as well as a $7 billion regulatory termination fee payable by Paramount Skydance if the deal does not close due to regulatory matters, and payment of the $2.8 billion termination fee that Warner Bros. Discovery would be required to pay to Netflix to terminate their existing merger agreement.”
Update, Feb. 26, 4:36 p.m.: Variety now reports that Warner Bros. Discovery’s board has indeed deemed Paramount’s bid to be a “superior proposal.” Netflix now has four days to “make a counteroffer to the nearly $83 billion deal that it reached with WBD in early December.”
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