Even after Netflix and Warner Bros. shook hands on Friday’s US$82.7-billion mega-deal, the bidding war is heating up again as David Ellison goes on the offense. 

Paramount Skydance revealed this morning that it’s going directly to shareholders to propose an all-cash tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Warner Bros. Discovery for US$30 per share.

As outlined in its initial bid, Paramount wants every part of David Zaslav’s company (including the cable assets that Netflix excluded), and this offer puts the enterprise value at around US$108.4 billion. Comparatively, the Netflix deal to acquire just the streaming and studio biz involves a cash-and-stock transaction valued at US$27.75 per share, for a total enterprise value of US$82.7 billion.

The equity behind this hostile bid is backed by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital, in addition to borrowed capital from Bank of America, Citi and Apollo, according to an official release. But an SEC filing says it also includes US$24 billion from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi wealth funds, plus Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners—despite Paramount previously denying that its bid would include any Saudi funds.

Ellison emphasized that his offer of “superior value” provides WBD shareholders with US$18 billion more in cash compared to the Netflix deal, as well as a “more certain and quicker path” to completion. 

The hostile bid comes in the wake of Paramount’s unconcealed fury last week when the Netflix deal was announced, with Ellison’s company accusing WBD of unfairly favoring the global streamer during the bidding process. Paramount even launched a website called Stronger Hollywood to make its case as having the “superior” offer and highlighting perceived downsides in Netflix’s deal. 

Netflix was openly seeking to acquire the Warner Bros. studio business to get its hands on an IP library that includes kid-friendly staples like Looney Tunes (pictured), Harry Potter and the DC superheroes.

The streamer has been on the receiving end of anti-trust concerns and criticism from the industry since Friday. “This merger must be blocked,” urged the Writers Guild of America in a scathing statement highlighting that the deal could worsen job conditions, wages and even content diversity. Meanwhile, European cinema trade body UNIC noted that Netflix’s weak track record with theatrical releases could pose a major risk for cinemas.

“We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood. It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry,” Ellison said about today’s announcement. “We believe they will benefit from the enhanced competition, higher content spend and theatrical release output, and a greater number of movies in theaters as a result of our proposed transaction.”