Paramount, Comcast, Netflix are offering shows

Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix Officially submitted takeover offers for Warner Bros. Discovery This week before the first-round bid deadline, according to people familiar with the matter.

Paramount Skydance and its advisers have been considering in recent days whether to make a higher offer than its previous offer of $23.50 per share that WBD rejected, some of the people said. Both Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, and Netflix have only bid for the film and streaming assets, which consist of studio Warner Bros. Studios, the people said. and HBO Max.

One person said the Netflix show was expected to be “disciplined” with its presentation. The size and structure of the offers were not immediately clear.

Warner Bros. aims to Discovery expects to close the sale by mid-to-late December, CNBC previously reported. Some people said another round of bidding is expected in the coming weeks.

Warner Bros. representatives declined. Discovery, Paramount, Netflix, and Comcast comment.

Last month, Warner Bros. said: Discovery is expanding a strategic review of its business to include a potential sale — even as it continues with a plan to split into two separate entities: Warner Bros., consisting of the movie studio and streaming platform, and Discovery Global, which would include the company’s pay-TV networks like CNN and TNT Sports.

While the Warner Bros. Discovery underway Acquisition interest from newly merged Paramount Skydance has prompted WBD CEO David Zaslav and top officials to be open to a formal sale.

Paramount has already sent several letters to WBD’s board of directors explaining why its offer of $23.50 per share for all of WBD’s assets is in the best interests of shareholders and the company itself.

WBD stock was up about 2% in Friday morning trading at about $23.40 a share. The company’s share price has risen by more than 20% since it was announced for sale in October.

Paramount CEO David Ellison recently met with Saudi-backed sovereign funds about financing a potential deal, though the talks were only preliminary, and Ellison and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, are willing to fully finance the deal, people familiar with the matter said.

While Paramount is interested in a deal that includes all of WBD, the formal sale opened up the possibility of a buyer for only part of the legacy media company.

If Comcast’s bid for the studio and streaming assets is successful, Discovery Global will move forward with production and WBD’s current CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels will become CEO.

Comcast Chairman and soon-to-be co-CEO Mike Kavanagh telegraphed on an earnings call that the acquisition of the studio and streaming assets would be complementary to NBCUniversal. Comcast is currently exiting its cable network portfolio, which includes CNBC, but will retain NBCUniversal.

— CNBC’s David Faber contributed to this report.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant will become the new parent company of CNBC based on Comcast’s planned spin-off of Versant.