Paramount Skydance yesterday extended the deadline on its hostile tender offer for Warner Bros Discovery by about a month to February 20, buying more time to persuade investors that its bid for the Hollywood studio trumps a rival deal with Netflix.

The company did ‌not raise its bid on Thursday (January 22) from what it had pledged earlier.
A successful deal, according to a Reuters report, will change the landscape of Hollywood by giving the suitor ownership of iconic franchises from ‘Friends’ to ‘Batman’ as well as the HBO Max streaming service.

Netflix on Tuesday (Jan. 20) revised its $82.7 billion offer to go all-cash in hopes of expediting the deal closure and providing greater financial certainty to investors worried about its previous stock-and-cash deal.

It is now willing to pay $27.75 per share in cash for the streaming and studio ‌assets of the David Zaslav-led company, an offer that was unanimously approved by the Warner Bros board.

Paramount has launched a charm offensive and sued Warner Bros to bring the HBO owner to the negotiating table. But Warner Bros and analysts have suggested Paramount needs to raise its offer of $108.4 billion, or $30 per share, for the whole company to restart deal talks.