Netflix isn’t buying Warner Bros after all, as Paramount swoops in
Light at the end of the tunnel?
👋 Netflix has walked away from its mega money deal to purchase Warner Bros
🤑 Instead, Paramount’s latest all-cash bid of $31 per share has been approval from the WBD board
🎬 The deal reportedly includes all of WBD, including its pay channels such as CNN, TBS and TNT
🤝 Paramount had submitted several offers in recent months as it sought to close a large deal
Netflix isn’t going to be buying Warner Bros after all, as the WBD board has given the go-ahead for a revised bid from Paramount.
Paramount raised its bid for Warner Bros up to $31 a share from the previous $30 a share as part of an all-cash deal. The media giant had amended several offers in recent months, and has gone above the originally agreed $27.75 a share price WBD had with Netflix previously.
Netflix granted Warner Bros a seven-day waiver for it to re-engage with Paramount, which resulted in the higher bid.
As a result, Netflix had four business days to make changes to its own proposal after Paramount raised its offer – instead, it has chosen to walk away. The Paramount offer includes all of Warner Bros, including its pay-TV networks, such as CNN, TBS and TNT, for reference.
In a statement, WBD CEO David Zaslav said that “Netflix is a great company and throughout this process Ted [Sarandos], Greg [Peters], Spence [Neumann] and everyone there have been extraordinary partners to us. We wish them well in the future.”
Zaslav continued by stating that “Once our [Warner Bros] Board votes to adopt the Paramount merger agreement, it will create tremendous value for our shareholders. We are excited about the potential of a combined Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery and can’t wait to get started working together telling the stories that move the world.”
The latest bid from Paramount also includes a $7 billion ‘breakup fee’ in the event that the deal doesn’t get approval from the regulator, while it has also agreed to pay the $2.8 billion fee that Warner Bros would owe Netflix if the deal doesn’t go through.
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Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.