That’s all, folks?
It appears that Paramount Skydance is poised to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, a stunning turn of events after Netflix’s bid for the company was announced late last year.
In a message to shareholders Thursday, WBD announced that Paramount Skydance’s latest offer to acquire the storied studio and TV company is superior to Netflix’s. Netflix pulled out of negotiations within hours of its co-CEO Ted Sarandos’s visit to the White House.
“At the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive,” Sarandos and fellow co-CEO Greg Peters said in a joint statement. “This transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”
Paramount’s latest offer is valued at about $111 billion, or around $31 per share, and it includes all of WBD, even its declining cable business. Netflix’s deal, meanwhile, was worth about $83 billion and excluded the challenged cable networks.
The developments mean that pending regulatory approval, Paramount will acquire WBD. Paramount CEO David Ellison and his father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, have cozied up to President Donald Trump, who at one point suggested he would weigh in on the deal. Earlier this month, he said that “the Justice Department will handle it.” The deal will need to also receive approval from European regulators.
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Netflix will walk away from the negotiating table with a $2.8 billion termination fee, which Paramount has agreed to pay, and Paramount has also agreed to pay Warner Bros. Discovery $7 billion if the transaction does not go through, which could become one of the largest-ever corporate “breakup fees,” according to Deadline.
Stream queen: Paramount stands to acquire properties like HBO Max and Discovery+, which would join Paramount’s existing streaming assets Paramount+ and Pluto TV. Beyond the streaming businesses, the deal would create a legacy TV advertising behemoth, as both Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery operate sizeable cable businesses, as well as a major news operation with both CNN and CBS News under one corporate umbrella.
Jog the memory: The Paramount-WBD-Netflix saga began in the fall, after WBD announced that it would spin off its cable networks from the rest of the business by mid-2026. Netflix originally reached a purchase agreement with WBD in December, but Paramount tried multiple times to win over WBD shareholders, starting with a roughly $108 billion, all-cash $30 per share hostile bid for the company. Shareholders and WBD’s board had turned down the multiple offers until now.
While there’s still plenty of unknowns, we bet champagne bottles are being uncorked in the corner office at Paramount HQ.
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