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Netflix Walks Away From Warner Bros Deal, Paramount Set to Take Over

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Netflix has dropped out of the takeover battle for Warner Bros. Discovery, putting Paramount Skydance on course to win the whole WBD business.

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The world's largest streaming service had been pegged to land a deal in which it would acquire Warner Bros., HBO, and HBO Max in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $72 billion in equity and $82.7 billion, including debt. But after Paramount submitted a final offer, valuing WBD at $111bn including debt, Netflix declined to match it.

In an announcement on Thursday, Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said:
The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval. 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.

We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.' iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S. But this transaction was always a 'nice to have' at the right price, not a 'must have' at any price.
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Netflix shares surged by 8.5% in after-hours trading, indicating relief among investors that the streaming company has not risked overpaying for Warner Bros.

Warner's board said Thursday night that it still recommends Netflix's offer, but now views Paramount's bid as "superior" – its first sign of backing for the suitor that it labeled hostile when the takeover battle began in December.

Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav said that Paramount's offer "will create tremendous value," and that WBD was "excited about the potential of a combined Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery."

Assuming Paramount's takeover is successful, it will give its owner Larry Ellison ownership of not only Warner Bros. and HBO, but also news channels CNN and CBS News. However, the deal still needs regulatory approval, so nothing is for certain just yet.

Article Link: Netflix Walks Away From Warner Bros Deal, Paramount Set to Take Over
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/02/27/netflix-withdraws-warner-bros-deal/
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So does this mean Movie Theaters stay open now and streaming services wont kill us all in our sleep or some such nonsense? Cause i got to tell you, i gave up caring halfway though the news cycle on this. I dont stand to gain anything in the process. Movies are still going to cost too damn much regardless if im streaming them, buying digital copies (or physical ones if you can even find those anymore) and in the theaters, and more then half of them are going to be fast paced reboots, sequels, prequels, redo's, alternate universe/timeline versions of movies i saw 20-40 years ago, but this time theres going to be so much hype behind what ever they put out, and when it fails to deliver everyones going to act like the films character went back in time and personally ruined their childhoods.

Trust me, ive been though all of this before when it comes to movies. I ran a movie/pop culture youtube channel for 13 years until i finally quit, and ive been though it all, and at this point i just dont care what studio is making what movie, whos writing what, what characters they do or dont have the rights too...if its Live Action, Ai, animated, etc...i just wana sit down, escape the world for a few hours and watch a entertaining movie and not be bothered with endless texts, alerts, notifications, etc.

Does this deal enable me to do that? ok, then go with it, even if i have no stake or say in this one way or another! Have fun spending your billions of dollars, just make a decent movie or two along the way ok? thanks.
 
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Frankly, I thought the Netflix deal was the lesser of two evils. Ideally, WB would stay as its own thing. With minimal crossover between Netflix and WB, there wouldn't be much in the way of job losses, and the more Netflix spoke about it, the more comfortable I felt. What with theatrical releases being guaranteed on the film side, and HBO being left to do what they do best. With Paramount taking over, there may be hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs that are duplicated and will have to be thinned out. This is really worrying. Of course, we can't discount the probable political pressure which has likely come to bear in Paramount and its owners' favour.
 
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The ideal scenario would have been WB left to its own devices but with somebody in charge of the company who is aware of the value of what they possess.

The only good thing about the Netflix deal would have been they would just dump hundreds of old shows and cartoons right onto streaming just for the hell of it. There is a lot of Gold in the WB vault they just never show the light of day.

I can't say merging Paramount and WB would be any better.
 
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pavelbure said:
Now I guess Netflix will wait 2 more months for a price hike instead of 2 more weeks.
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More like they'll wait 2 or more years to buy it as a bargain since Paramount is already over 15 billion in debt and needed foreign investors to even make an offer

Edit: oops read your comment wrong
 
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