Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ:PSKY) has aggressively escalated its pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery, raising its all-cash takeover bid to $31 a share and prompting the target's board to determine the overture could trump an existing merger agreement with Netflix.
Paramount issued a statement welcoming the WBD board's determination, signaling its readiness to engage constructively to deliver the transaction to WBD shareholders.
The sweetened proposal represents a fortified attempt to break WBD away from Netflix.
In addition to the increased $31 per share cash price for full ownership of the media giant, Paramount has committed to absorbing the substantial costs of abandoning the existing pact.
The company reaffirmed it will cover the $2.8 billion termination fee WBD would owe its current merger partner, while also eliminating a potential $1.5 billion financing cost associated with WBD's debt exchange offer.
To further derisk the proposal for WBD and address potential completion anxieties, Paramount increased its regulatory reverse break fee to $7 billion in the event antitrust hurdles derail the acquisition.
The acquirer also accelerated the timeline for a daily ticking fee, offering 25 cents per quarter to commence after September 30, 2026, until the deal's consummation.