Warner Bros. Discovery said Tuesday that it is expanding its strategic review of the business and is open to a sale, sending the company's shares up 10% in morning trading.
Earlier this year, WBD announced plans to split into two separate entities, a streaming and studio business and a global networking business. There has also been interest in takeaway food from the newly merged supreme skydance.
But on Tuesday, WBD said it had received “unsolicited interest” from multiple parties and will now review all options. Meanwhile, the company said it is still moving forward toward the previously announced separation.
“We continue to take important steps to position our business for success in today's changing media landscape by advancing our strategic initiatives, returning our studios to industry leadership, and expanding HBO Max globally,” CEO David Zaslav said in a statement. “We took the bold step of preparing to separate the company into two leading and distinct media companies, Warner Bros. and Discovery Global, because we firmly believed this was the best path forward.”
“It is not surprising that the significant value of our portfolio is receiving greater recognition from others in the market. After receiving interest from multiple parties, we have initiated a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to identify the best path forward to unlock the full value of our assets,” he said.
netflix and Comcast are among interested parties, sources told CNBC's David Faber.
WBD decided to publicly announce that it had had interest from multiple parties after rejecting several different offers from Paramount and an offer from another company that was higher than Paramount's offer, according to a person familiar with the matter.
It's unclear how serious the potential offers outside of Paramount would be. Netflix wasn't interested in buying legacy media assets, but it didn't want WBD to turn to another buyer on the cheap, a source familiar with the matter said.
While Comcast doesn't feel the need to strike a deal, it will consider pursuing WBD, sources close to the company told CNBC's Julia Boorstin.
For any buyer who only wants WBD's studio and broadcast assets, acquiring them after a split later this year is better for tax purposes.
Spokespeople for Paramount and WBD declined to comment. Netflix and Comcast did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
WBD has faced increasing financial challenges since the 2022 merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc., which saddled the company with more than $40 billion in debt. Since then, it has undertaken aggressive cost-cutting, restructured its content portfolio and focused on profitable franchises such as spin-offs from “Harry Potter” and “Game of Thrones.”
Although the company has made progress in reducing debt, investors have remained skeptical in part because of the company's portfolio of cable networks as consumers move toward streaming.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC following Comcast's planned spinoff of Versant.
