Netflix has reportedly withdrawn its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, paving the way for Paramount Skydance to potentially win the months-long battle to take over the storied Hollywood studio.
Warner Bros., which initiated the sale process last year, stated Thursday that Paramount’s latest offer was “superior” to Netflix’s proposal and requested that the streaming giant increase its bid—a request Netflix declined.
Paramount recently enhanced its offer, agreeing to increase its purchase proposal by $1 per share.
“At the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid,” Netflix executives said.
“The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” Netflix co-chief executives Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a statement. “However, we’ve always been disciplined.”
“This transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price,” the Netflix executives added.
The announcement occurred shortly after Sarandos’ visit to the White House on Thursday.
Thursday’s announcement concludes a protracted and dramatic saga that—pending regulatory approval—is poised to reshape the landscape of Hollywood. The acquisition could also have significant ramifications for the future of CNN, one of the United States’ leading news organizations.
Last December, Warner Bros. initially accepted a takeover offer from Netflix for select assets. However, Paramount, supported by tech billionaire Larry Ellison and led by his son David, countered with a rival bid, aiming to solidify its position as a major player in the entertainment industry.
Warner Bros. had previously rebuffed Paramount’s advances.
On Thursday, chief executive David Ellison welcomed the Warner Bros. board’s decision to favor Paramount’s revised offer. In a statement, he asserted that the proposal provides Warner Bros. shareholders with “superior value, certainty and speed to closing.”
Should regulators approve the Paramount deal, the company would integrate Warner Bros.’ HBO Max streaming subscribers into its existing platform. The acquisition would also grant Paramount ownership of CNN, the Food Network, and a variety of sports broadcasting rights.
Paramount’s current holdings include established networks such as Nickelodeon, CBS, and Comedy Central.
Many within the Hollywood community have viewed the bidding war between Netflix and Paramount as a contest with potentially unfavorable outcomes.
Critics of a potential deal with Netflix expressed apprehension that the renowned movie studio would be absorbed by the Silicon Valley streaming giant, potentially diminishing the importance of theatrical releases. A merger with Paramount, which has positioned itself as one of the last remaining traditional movie studios in Hollywood, has also sparked concern among critics due to the company’s perceived political ties to the Trump administration.
Regardless of the outcome, the sale of Warner Bros. is expected to have far-reaching effects across the entertainment industry, with anticipated staff reductions in a sector already impacted by ongoing production cuts.
In December, Warner Bros. disclosed that it had agreed to sell its film and streaming divisions, including HBO, to Netflix in a deal valued at $27.75 per share, or approximately $82 billion (£61 billion), including debt.
Warner Bros. stated that it would spin off the remaining segments of its business, including traditional television networks and the CNN news channel, as an independent entity.
However, in a final effort, Paramount this week agreed to offer more for the takeover of Warner Bros., bidding $31 per share in cash, an increase from its previous offer of $30 per share, for the entire company.
Paramount has also pledged to pay $7 billion should the deal fail to materialize and to cover the $2.8 billion fee that Warner Bros. had agreed to pay Netflix in the event of a breakdown in the merger agreement.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @bbcbreaking on X to get the latest alerts.
The ex-secretary of state called for President Trump to be questioned under oath about his past association with the sex offender.
The BBC’s North America correspondent Nada Tawfik, reporting from Chappaqua, New York, explains what we know about Clinton’s closed-door testimony.
The BBC’s Tom Bateman explains what Trump-Related Epstein files the Department of Justice is accused of withholding.
Cuba has accused those on board of planning “an infiltration with terrorist aims” and firing first.
The top Democrat on the congressional panel investigating Epstein has called on the attorney general to publish the material.