In a high-stakes Hollywood showdown, Netflix drops $83 Billion Warner Bros Bid, stepping aside as a rival suitor tightened its grip on one of the entertainment industry’s crown jewels.
The streaming giant said Thursday it will not match the latest offer from Paramount Skydance for Warner Bros. Discovery, effectively opening the door to a merger that could redraw the balance of power across film, television and streaming.
A Bidding War Reaches Its Climax
Netflix had agreed in December to acquire part of Warner Bros. Discovery for $27.75 per share, a transaction valued at roughly $82.7 billion. But the landscape shifted when Paramount Skydance put forward a sweeping all-cash proposal — first at $30 per share to buy the entire company, then escalating Tuesday to $31 per share.
That enhanced bid values Warner Bros. Discovery at approximately $110 billion. Paramount Skydance owns CBS News.
Earlier Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery’s board informed Netflix that Paramount’s $31 per share offer qualified as a “superior proposal.”
Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters responded in a statement that the deal they negotiated would have delivered shareholder value with what they described as a clear route to regulatory approval. However, they said matching Paramount Skydance’s latest price would no longer be financially compelling.
“We’ve always been disciplined,” they said, adding that at the new valuation, the transaction no longer made economic sense.
Paramount Skydance did not immediately comment.
