Warner Bros has rejected the latest takeover bid by Paramount Skydance. However, WBD is giving the Hollywood studio seven days to come up with a better deal to buy the legacy entertainment company. Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount, and Netflix saw a rise in share price after negotiations resumed. 

WBD had accepted an offer from Netflix, but has given Paramount Skydance until February 23 to submit its best offer for the last time following which Netflix will be allowed to match this offer under the merger agreement between streaming giant and Warner Bros. 

On Tuesday Warner Bros Chairman Samuel DiPiazza Jr and CEO David Zaslav sent a letter to the Paramount board that said that their board had determined that the proposal from Paramount was not “reasonably likely to result in a transaction that is superior to the Netflix merger.”

The letter also said, “We continue to recommend and remain fully committed to our transaction with Netflix.” 

Warner Bros will be moving forward with a vote on the bid by Netflix on March 20. To date, they are recommending the Netflix deal though Paramount has a week to sweeten their new bid and also address issues that Warner Bros deem to be contentious.

Both Paramount Skydance and Netflix have been vying with each other to acquire Warner Bros ever since it was available for an acquisition. Paramount has continued to try to take over the entire company even after Netflix and Warner Bros reached a deal that will include Warner Bros but will not include cable operations. CNN, TLC, Food Network and HGTV will be spun off to a separate publicity traded company.

CWEB analysts say that the deals by both Netflix and Paramount Skydance have their strengths and weaknesses, and it is up to the board and the shareholders to decide which deal is overall better for them.