Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) recently rejected a takeover offer from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance, deeming the proposed “around” $20 per share as “too low,” according to a Bloomberg News report. This development comes after WBD shares had seen a significant increase, rising over 36% since initial reports on September 11 indicated Ellison’s interest in acquiring the rival company. WBD, the parent company of major media assets including HBO/HBO Max, Warner Bros. Entertainment, CNN, TNT, and TBS, currently boasts a market capitalization of $42.3 billion, alongside a substantial total debt of $35.6 billion as of June 30.

The takeover overture follows closely on the heels of Skydance’s successful acquisition of Paramount Global, an $8 billion deal largely financed by billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, David Ellison's father. Paramount Skydance is reportedly in discussions with Apollo Global Management, an asset management firm that had previously expressed interest in Paramount Global, to potentially collaborate on the bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. Representatives for Paramount, WBD, and Apollo have not yet commented on these reports.

While David Ellison did not explicitly confirm a bid for WBD at a recent Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles, he articulated his strategic vision for consolidation within the media industry. Ellison emphasized the necessity for Paramount to integrate additional content-producing engines to achieve sustainable growth in today’s highly competitive and streaming-centric landscape. He echoed sentiments from WBD chief David Zaslav regarding the industry's need for more mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to gain scale. Ellison stated, “You actually need more content to yield more engagement,” and expressed a desire to be in the business of producing “more movies, more television series” to drive greater scale and engagement, though he refrained from naming specific acquisition targets.

The proposed bid by Paramount Skydance is reportedly for Warner Bros. Discovery in its entirety, a detail first reported by the Wall Street Journal. This M&A interest emerges at a pivotal time, preceding WBD's announced plans to split into two distinct companies by next spring: Warner Bros., which will encompass its studios and streaming operations, and Discovery Global, focused on its television networks and Discovery+ platform.