NEW YORK (AP) — Paramount is again sweetening its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, while again extending the deadline for its tender offer as it scrambles for more shareholder support.
On Tuesday, the Skydance-owned company said it would pay Warner shareholders an added “ticking fee” if its deal doesn't go through by the end of the year — amounting to 25 cents per share, or a total of $650 million, for every quarter after Dec. 31. Paramount also pledged to fund Warner's proposed $2.8 billion breakup payout to Netflix under its studio and streaming merger agreement.
The value of Paramount's offer otherwise remains unchanged. The company is offering to pay $30 per share in cash to Warner's stakeholders, who now have until March 2 to tender their shares.
Paramount CEO David Ellison said that the “additional benefits” announced Tuesday “clearly underscore our strong and unwavering commitment to delivering the full value WBD shareholders deserve for their investment.”
Paramount wants to buy Warner's entire company for $77.9 billion, with a total enterprise value of $108 billion including debt. Beyond studio and streaming operations, that includes Warner's networks like CNN and Discovery.
But it has a long way to go in terms of getting shareholder support — which, according to recent company disclosures, has appeared to decline significantly over the last month. As of Monday, Paramount said that more than 42.3 million Warner shares had been “validly tendered and not withdrawn” from its bid, down from over 168.5 million Warner shares on Jan. 21.
Warner Bros. Discovery has about 2.48 billion shares outstanding in series A common stock today. Paramount would need more than 50% to effectively gain control.
The new March 2 deadline marks the third time Paramount has pushed back the expiration of its tender offer, which it may keep extending. Paramount has also begun soliciting proxies to challenge Warner's agreement with Netflix.
Warner on Tuesday confirmed it received Paramount's “amended, unsolicited tender offer” and said that its board would review it — but that company leadership wasn't modifying its recommendation for the Netflix deal at this time. A Netflix spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Warner's leadership has consistently backed the proposed merger with Netflix. In December, Netflix agreed to buy Warner’s studio and streaming business for $72 billion — now in an all-cash transaction that the companies have said will speed up the path to a shareholder vote by April. Including debt, the enterprise value of the deal is about $83 billion, or $27.75 per share.
Netflix and Warner have maintained that their agreement is better Paramount's bid. But Paramount argues that its offer is superior — and on Tuesday pointed to a “sliding scale” payout of the Netflix merger, which could range from $21.23 to $27.75 per share, depending on debt spanning from Warner's previously announced spinoff of its networks business.
Unlike Paramount, Netflix doesn't want Warner's networks. Under Netflix-Warner' agreement, “Discovery Global” would become its own separate public company before their merger is closed.
The prospect of a Warner sale to either company has raised tremendous antitrust concerns from lawmakers worldwide, who are calling on regulators to carefully scrutinize a merger of this size. The U.S. Department of Justice has already initiated reviews of both Warner's agreement with Netflix and Paramount's hostile bid. All three companies have disclosed that they've been in contact with the DOJ over requests for more information.
Other countries may also review the deal. And on Tuesday, Paramount said it “secured clearance” for its tender offer from authorities in Germany last month.
The companies have argued their proposed deals will be good news for consumers and the wider entertainment industry, claiming that merging will give streaming customers more content. But unions and other trade groups have warned that further consolidation in the industry could result in job losses and less diversity in content — with particularly negative consequences for filmmaking.
FILE - The Warner Bros. water tower is seen at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif., Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie released the first surveillance images Tuesday showing a masked person with what appeared to be a handgun holster on her porch the night she went missing more than a week ago.
Video released by the FBI shows the person wearing a backpack, long sleeves and pants and walking up to the door at the home of the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie. The footage shows the person trying to cover a camera near the front door with their gloved hand before putting plants in front of the camera.
The images show “an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance,” Patel said on X. In the videos, the person appeared to be wearing the holster attached to their front waist area.
This was the first major break in the investigation that has raised more questions than answers, including whether the 84-year-old who disappeared from her home in Arizona is still alive and comes as law enforcement and her family intensified calls for assistance from the public.
Up until now, authorities have released few details, leaving it unclear if ransom notes demanding money with deadlines already passed were authentic and whether the Guthrie family has had any contact with the abductors.
Savannah Guthrie posted several of the surveillance images with the caption: “We believe she is still alive. Bring her home,” and phone numbers for the FBI and county sheriff. Within minutes, the post had thousands of comments.
Investigators had been hopeful that cameras at the home would turn up some evidence about how she went missing, but the doorbell camera was disconnected early Sunday. And while software data recorded movement at the home minutes later, Nancy Guthrie didn’t have an active subscription, so none of the footage could be recovered, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos had said.
The new images released Tuesday were “recovered from residual data located in backend systems” after investigators had spent days trying to find images or video that may have been lost, corrupted, or inaccessible, Patel said.
The announcement follows heartbreaking messages made by Savannah Guthrie and her family over the past days that have shifted from hopeful to desperate as they plead with the apparent kidnappers to hand over their mother.
It's also unclear if ransom notes demanding money with deadlines that have already passed were authentic, or whether the Guthrie family has had any contact with the abductors.
Guthrie and her family have posted a series of videos over the past week, each striking a different tone. The latest message from Savannah Guthrie, in which she appeared alone, was more bleak.
“We are at an hour of desperation,” she said Monday, telling the public: “We need your help.”
Authorities believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will from her house just outside Tucson. She was last seen there Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day after not attending church. DNA tests showed blood on Nancy Guthrie’s front porch was a match to her, and a doorbell camera was disconnected in the early hours of Sunday morning, the sheriff has said.
Authorities say Nancy Guthrie needs daily medication because she is said to have high blood pressure and heart issues, including a pacemaker.
Investigators were in her neighborhood several times over the past few days and plan to keep working Tuesday as they expand the search and follow up on new leads, the sheriff’s department said.
Three days after the search began, Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings sent their first public appeal to the kidnappers, telling them “we want to hear from you and we are ready to listen.”
In the recorded video, Guthrie said her family was aware of media reports about a ransom letter, but they first wanted proof their mother was alive. "Please reach out to us,” they said.
Law enforcement officials declined to say whether the letters sent to several media outlets were credible but said all tips were being investigated seriously.
The next day, Savannah Guthrie’s brother again told the kidnappers to reach out "so we can move forward.”
“Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven’t heard anything directly,” Camron Guthrie said.
Then over the past weekend the family posted another video — one that was more cryptic and generated even more speculation about Nancy Guthrie's fate.
“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” said Savannah Guthrie, flanked by her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
Up to that point, the family's first three videos addressed the kidnappers directly.
But just ahead of Monday's deadline spelled out in a purported note, Savannah Guthrie urged people nationwide to be on the lookout “no matter where you are, even if you’re far from Tucson, if you see anything, if you hear anything.”
Her turn to the public comes as much of the nation is closely following the dramatic twists and turns involving the longtime anchor of NBC’s morning show.
The FBI this week began posting digital billboards in major cities from Texas to California.
Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI, said Monday that the agency wasn’t aware of ongoing communication between Guthrie’s family and the suspected kidnappers. Authorities also had not identified any suspects or persons of interest, he said.
“Someone has that one piece of information that can help us bring Nancy home,” he said.
Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio.
FILE - This image provided by the Pima County Sheriff's Department on Feb. 2, 2026, shows a missing person alert for Nancy Guthrie. (Pima County Sheriff's Department via AP, File)
A small vigil grows near Nancy Guthrie‘s house, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
A woman walks her dog past a Pima county sheriff's vehicle parked in front of Nancy Guthrie's home on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
A member of the Pima county sheriff's office walks around Nancy Guthrie's home on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
