Industry

The media landscape has been reshaped by a blockbuster consolidation as Paramount Global, backed by Skydance, has emerged victorious in the race to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The turning point came on Thursday evening when Netflix officially declined to raise its $27.75-per-share offer, after being notified by the WBD board that Paramount’s sweetened $31-per-share bid for the entire company was considered superior.

In a joint statement, Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters explained their decision to withdraw, characterizing the acquisition as a "nice to have" rather than a "must have" at any price. “The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” said Sarandos and Peters. “However, we've always been disciplined, and 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.”

The deal marks a massive win for David Ellison’s Skydance and Paramount, effectively ending weeks of intense bidding that had the industry on edge. While Netflix had focused its interest on WBD’s studio and streaming assets, Paramount’s winning offer encompasses the entire company. David Zaslav, President and CEO of WBD, and CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels were praised by Netflix leadership for running a “fair and rigorous process” during the negotiations.

The market reacted immediately to the news, with Netflix stock surging as investors cheered the company's financial discipline in avoiding an over-leveraged deal. Meanwhile, the Paramount-WBD merger is expected to face significant regulatory scrutiny, though analysts suggest the "Paramount Skydance" structure was specifically designed to navigate these hurdles.

This acquisition solidifies a new "super-major" in the global entertainment sector, combining iconic catalogs and massive production capabilities under one roof.