Paramount Amends Warner Bros. Acquisition Proposal to $30 per Share
"Now Streaming" is The Fly's weekly recap of the stories surrounding the biggest content streamers.PLAYING THIS WEEKEND:The most notable new streaming content this week is season 10 of Netflixreality series "Love Is Blind."PARAMOUNT/WARNER BROS.:Earlier this week, Paramount Skydance Corporationannounced it has amended its $30 per share, all-cash tender offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.with enhancements that "surpass the standard needed for the WBD Board to engage on Paramount's superior proposal." Paramount said its enhanced offer provides "definitively superior value and certainty, as reflected in the following added provisions and distinguishing elements: To underscore confidence in the speed and certainty of its regulatory pathway, Paramount is adding an incremental cash consideration to WBD shareholders of $0.25 per share - equivalent to approximately $650 million cash value each quarter - for every quarter the transaction is not closed beyond December 31, 2026. Paramount will fund the payment of the $2.8B termination fee due to Netflix concurrent with the termination of the Netflix agreement as set forth in the revised proposed merger agreement filed with the amended tender offer. Paramount will eliminate WBD's potential $1.5B financing cost associated with its debt exchange offer by fully backstopping an exchange offer that relieves WBD of its contractual bondholder obligations."Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed that it received the amended offer, saying it will "carefully review and consider" the offer. "The Board is not modifying its recommendation with respect to the Netflix Merger Agreement," the HBO parent added. "WBD will review the amended tender offer and advise its stockholders of the Board's recommendation after the completion of that review. WBD stockholders are advised not to take any action at this time with respect to the amended Paramount Skydance tender offer."NETFLIX/DOJ:The Department of Justice is investigating if Netflix engaged in anticompetitive tactics as it reviews the company's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery's studios and HBO Max streaming service, Jessica Toonkel and Dave Michaels of Wall Street Journal reported last Friday, citing a civil subpoena viewed by the paper. The questions pertaining to how Netflix competes with rivals suggests the department is looking at whether its planned Warner deal "could entrench its market power, or lead to a monopoly in the future," according to the Journal.ANCORA/WARNER BROS.:Ancora Holdings has built a stake of about $200M in Warner Bros. Discovery and plans to oppose the company's deal to sell its studios/HBO Max service to Netflix, The Wall Street Journal's Lauren Thomas reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Warner has failed to adequately engage with Paramount Skydance and may announce its position soon, the report stated.ROKU RESULTS:Rokureporrted better-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue. The company said, "We delivered excellent results in 2025, driven by consistent execution and the differentiation of our leading TV streaming platform. By expanding our Platform monetization over the last two years, we've unlocked new growth engines and achieved record-breaking financial performance. In 2025, we achieved positive net income, expanded Adjusted EBITDA margin by 255 basis points, and reported record Free Cash Flow, all while continuing to invest in our platform for long term growth. We repurchased a total of $150 million of shares under our $400 million stock repurchase program, reinforcing our commitment to growing Free Cash Flow per share. Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, we are confident in our ability to sustain double-digit Platform revenue growth while continuing to expand both operating and net income margins."AMC NETWORKS RESULTS:Meanwhile, AMC Networksreported mixed Q4 results, withh earnings coming in below consensus but revenue beating the Street. Looking ahead, the company provided FY26 revenue guidance that was in-line with consensus estimates.Commenting on the results, AMC Networks CEO Kristin Dolan said, "AMC Networks had a successful 2025. Streaming is now the largest single source of revenue in our domestic segment, a significant milestone and inflection point in the ongoing transformation of our business. We delivered free cash flow well ahead of our previously increased forecast and once again achieved our financial guidance for the year. We look forward to continuing to take advantage of our independence and unique strengths as we drive the company forward during a time of change in our industry."DISNEY/CALIFORNIA:California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced this week a settlement with the Walt Disney Company, resolving allegations that the company violated the California Consumer Privacy Act by failing to fully effectuate consumers' requests to opt-out of the sale or sharing of their data across all devices and streaming services associated with consumers' Disney accounts. Under today's settlement, Disney must pay $2.75M in civil penalties and must implement opt-out methods that fully stop Disney's sale or sharing of consumers' personal information. "Consumers shouldn't have to go to infinity and beyond to assert their privacy rights. Today, my office secured the largest settlement to date under the CCPA over Disney's failure to stop selling and sharing the data of consumers that explicitly asked it to," said Attorney General Bonta. "California's nation-leading privacy law is clear: A consumer's opt-out right applies wherever and however a business sells data - businesses can't force people to go device-by-device or service-by-service. In California, asking a business to stop selling your data should not be complicated or cumbersome. My office is committed to the continued enforcement of this critical privacy law.STOCK PLAYS:Other publicly traded companies in the space include FuboTV, Fox, Apple, Comcast, and Amazon.
