Whoever buys Warner Bros., JP Morgan (JPM.US) and Allen & Company are both winning big: billions of dollars have already safely landed in their pockets.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM.US) and Allen & Company have emerged as clear beneficiaries in the bidding war between Netflix (NFLX.US) and Paramount (PSKY.US) for the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD.US). According to securities filings disclosed on Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase and Allen & Company, as advisors to Warner Bros., will each receive a reward of $90 million from the deal. Sources revealed that JPMorgan Chase also earned a significant amount of money for providing a $17.5 billion bridge loan to Warner Bros. in order to separate its cable news network and sports programming (including CNN) from its film and TV division. The sources requested anonymity to discuss internal affairs. JPMorgan Chase declined to comment, while Allen & Company did not respond to requests for comment. This week, Netflix revised its offer for Warner Bros. Studios and streaming business to $83 billion, further escalating the bidding war. All eyes are now on Paramount, whose $108 billion full acquisition offer for Warner Bros. Discovery is set to expire on Wednesday. It is widely expected that Paramount will at least extend its current offer, with investors hoping for a higher bid. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to divide its two major business lines and sell the company. Bridge loan fees Warner Bros. revealed that JPMorgan Chase had already earned $189 million in fees through financing and other related services before the sale agreement was reached. Sources further explained that these fees were derived from JPMorgan Chase's involvement in complex bond transactions and bridge loan operations, which played a critical role in splitting the company before the sale. Regardless of which competitor ultimately succeeds in acquiring Warner Bros., which owns the HBO Max platform and the "Harry Potter" series IP, JPMorgan Chase and Allen & Company will each secure a $90 million M&A advisory fee. Analysts and investors say that both Netflix and Paramount are interested in Warner Bros.' film and TV studios, extensive content libraries, and major franchises like "Game of Thrones" and DC Comics superhero series Batman and Superman. These are high-quality assets that are not often seen on the market. Fee breakdown According to U.S. securities filings, JPMorgan Chase ranked second in global M&A transactions last year, with total fees of $3.1 billion. This time, JPMorgan Chase's total fees from Warner Bros. will amount to $282 million. - Over half of the amount, $189 million, comes from financing and other fees related to the bridge loan. - The bank was paid $15 million for providing fair opinions on Netflix's initial acquisition proposal in December last year and this week's revised proposal. - JPMorgan Chase will receive an additional $30 million in M&A fees by December 1, 2026. - After the transaction is completed, JPMorgan Chase will receive an additional $45 million. - Netflix has also paid JPMorgan Chase an additional $3 million in fees over the past two years. A source said that JPMorgan Chase has been working with Warner Bros. for over two years, analyzing the best M&A strategies, and ultimately proposing a risky plan to split the company in two. To do this, Warner Bros. repurchased about half of its bonds at a discounted price and financed the repurchase through a $17.5 billion bridge loan provided by JPMorgan Chase. The source said this was the largest non-investment grade bridge loan ever on Wall Street. Warner Bros. stated that bondholders had only five days to accept the offer, reducing the company's total debt by $2.2 billion. Allen & Company is also expected to receive at least $90 million from this transaction. Warner Bros. said that one of its board members, Paul Gould, is the Managing Director of Allen & Company. - Over the past two years, Warner Bros. has paid Allen & Company at least $6 million. - Allen & Company received $20 million for providing a fair opinion on Netflix's acquisition proposal. - Allen & Company is expected to receive $30 million in M&A fees by December 1. - Once the transaction is completed, Allen & Company will receive an additional $40 million. Warner Bros. stated that Gould was a board member of Discovery Holdings Co. before its merger with Discovery Channel, but he is not part of the advisory team for this merger and will not receive any personal compensation from the transaction. These fees do not reflect Warner Bros.' total expenditures in the transaction. The company has not disclosed the fees paid to Evercore or its legal advisors (including Debevoise & Plimpton, Kirkland & Ellis, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz). The $180 million may only be a small part of the expenses incurred in this bidding war, as it does not include the fees paid by Netflix and Paramount to their financial and legal advisors.