Paramount Skydance is preparing a majority cash bid for Warner Bros Discovery that is backed by the Ellison family, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Shares of Warner Bros jumped nearly 30% while Paramount was up 7% after the news.
The bid will be for the entire company, including its cable networks and movie studio, the report said, citing people familiar with the situation.
Paramount declined to comment while Warner Bros did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
After Paramount’s merger with Skydance Media, CEO David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, is looking for a way to strengthen the company’s film slate and streaming ambitions while cutting costs and restructuring its struggling Paramount+ service.
Analysts have said the Ellison family’s deep pockets and willingness to back the deal with personal wealth were key to getting it across the line, as Paramount wrestled with heavy debt and a challenging streaming market.
Warner Bros Discovery has already announced plans to separate its cable business from its studios and streaming operations, as media companies restructure amid lagging TV viewership with the rise of streaming.
Earlier this month, finance chief Gunnar Wiedenfels said at the Bank of America Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference that WBD could sell 20% stake in its studio unit before the spinoff.
Paramount Global has previously also said it would retain and develop its own cable networks. The company said it was not thinking about cable as “declining linear assets that we need to spin off or deal with somehow.”
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