Netflix drops Warner Bros Discovery bid
Paramount-Skydance offer for full company moves ahead, Netflix still collects roughly $3 billion breakup fee
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Netflix drar sig ur budstriden om Warner Bros Discovery
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Netflix has walked away from its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business, leaving Paramount-Skydance as the leading buyer for the entire company. Warner’s board said Paramount’s latest offer—$31 per share—was superior to the deal it had previously struck with Netflix, according to Global News.
Netflix had offered $27.75 per share for Warner’s studio and streaming assets, a transaction valued at nearly $83 billion including debt. When Warner gave Netflix four business days to counter Paramount’s higher price, Netflix declined within hours, saying the revised valuation made the deal “no longer financially attractive.” Its co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said the acquisition was a “nice to have” only at the right price.
The exit is financially cushioned. Business Insider reports Netflix stands to receive about $2.8 billion in breakup fees, a payout that turns losing the auction into a windfall. Paramount, in turn, has offered to cover that fee, according to the Yle summary citing Reuters—effectively paying to clear the table before regulators even weigh in.
A Paramount-Warner combination would pull a large share of US film, television, sports rights, and news under one roof: HBO Max, Warner’s film and TV libraries and CNN alongside Paramount’s CBS and Paramount+ portfolio. Global News notes that unlike Netflix—focused narrowly on content and streaming—Paramount wants the whole conglomerate, including legacy networks and news operations.
That structure matters because the streaming wars are no longer just a contest of apps and subscriber churn. A merged Paramount-Warner would be a vertically integrated political actor: a company with broadcast licenses, cable carriage negotiations, sports contracts, advertising infrastructure, and a news division that lives under the same corporate risk umbrella as entertainment franchises. Antitrust review becomes not only a question of consumer pricing but of how much leverage a single firm gains over distribution and narrative.
The political temperature is already rising. Business Insider quotes Senator Elizabeth Warren calling the deal “an antitrust disaster” that could mean higher prices and fewer choices, while also warning about billionaire influence over what Americans watch. California attorney general Rob Bonta said the deal was “not a done deal” and that his office has an open investigation.
Warner’s CEO David Zaslav, who had defended the Netflix agreement for months, pivoted quickly after the board’s decision, praising Netflix as a partner while saying a Paramount-Skydance combination could create “tremendous value,” according to Global News.
Netflix’s withdrawal leaves a clear fact pattern: the bidder willing to buy the entire regulated media stack—news, distribution, and all—now sets the pace, while the streaming-first player collects a multibillion-dollar breakup check.