*Courtesy of Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press.*

Second-round bids for all or portions of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) have now been submitted by Paramount Skydance, Netflix, and Comcast — and Paramount’s new, higher offer is partially funded by the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.

The exact dollar figures of the revised Dec. 1 bids remain unknown. Paramount Skydance is pursuing a full acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, while Netflix and Comcast are seeking only the Warner Bros. studio and streaming operations, excluding the company’s linear TV networks. Paramount’s latest all-cash proposal continues to be primarily financed by the Ellison family — led by billionaire Larry Ellison, Oracle co-founder — with additional backing from RedBird Capital, Apollo Global Management and others.

The updated Paramount Skydance bid also includes investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). Bloomberg earlier reported that Middle Eastern funds were involved, though without specifying which ones.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the involvement of these three sovereign wealth funds is not significant enough to trigger a review by CFIUS — the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment — which evaluates foreign investments in American companies for potential national security issues.

Netflix’s second-round offer for Warner Bros., including HBO Max and the studio operations, is reportedly mostly cash, as noted by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal. Comcast has submitted a new bid. Netflix has indicated to WBD that if its offer prevails, it will honor Warner Bros.’ theatrical distribution agreements — despite Netflix’s historical resistance to theatrical releases — and will continue producing films and series for third-party platforms.

Representatives for Paramount Skydance, Netflix, and Comcast declined to comment. Warner Bros. Discovery did not respond to a request for comment.

Last month, Paramount Skydance was organizing a WBD bid supported by the three Middle Eastern funds. However, sources clarified that the earlier nonbinding $24-per-share offer, submitted Nov. 20, did not include funding from those wealth funds.

Paramount Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison had been slated to speak at the New York Times DealBook Summit on Dec. 3, but with the WBD bidding process underway, he is now expected to skip the event — though that could still change, according to one source.

Next, a special committee of the Warner Bros. Discovery board will determine whether to enter exclusive negotiations with one of the bidders or seek additional offers. WBD has been targeting the end of 2025 to conclude the process.

The company’s M&A review formally began last month after WBD acknowledged receiving unsolicited acquisition interest from multiple parties. Warner Bros. Discovery has said it will evaluate proposals that involve selling the Warner Bros. business — HBO Max and the studios — separately from Discovery Global, the linear-TV-focused division. This approach is in line with WBD’s existing plan to split into two companies by April 2026.

Ellison has previously made three bids for WBD, including a top offer of $23.50 per share, consisting of 80% cash and 20% stock. The board rejected that bid. Earlier proposals from Ellison also included offering WBD CEO David Zaslav a co-chairman and co-CEO role in a merged Paramount Skydance–WBD entity, though it is unclear whether that remains part of the current offer.

It is still possible WBD’s board may decline all acquisition proposals and proceed with its initial plan to divide the company into two: Warner Bros., led by Zaslav, and Discovery Global, headed by current CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels.

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