Paramount Skydance (PSKY) has launched a bold and unsolicited bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), dramatically escalating the consolidation war within the streaming and media sector.

The all-cash proposal, valued at $30 per share or approximately $108.4 billion, directly challenges and seeks to supersede a rival acquisition agreement announced just days prior by streaming titan Netflix.

This aggressive move by Paramount Skydance sent shockwaves through Wall Street, with Warner Bros. Discovery stock surging as much as 7% on the news, while Paramount shares also gained over 6%.

Conversely, Netflix stock dipped following the revelation of a powerful new competitor for the prized assets. The Paramount bid strategically emerged on the heels of Netflix’s announced plan to acquire key Warner Bros. divisions for $72 billion, a cash-and-stock deal valuing WBD shares at approximately $27.75.

Should a Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery merger proceed, industry analysts project the combined entity would command an unprecedented share of the U.S. streaming market, potentially controlling about one-third of viewer engagement.

This scale virtually guarantees intense antitrust scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department, setting the stage for a protracted regulatory battle. Paramount Skydance’s substantially richer $108 billion offer, pitched as a “radically simplified” financial package, is designed to win over wary WBD directors and shareholders by presenting a clearer and more immediately lucrative alternative to the Netflix arrangement, fundamentally reshaping the high-stakes bidding war for Hollywood’s future.