Netflix drops Warner Brothers merger bid, giving victory to Paramount

Netflix decided Thursday to drop its bid to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery after declining to match a bid from Paramount.The two streamers have been locked in a war over Warner Brothers after Paramount launched a hostile bid to take over the company after the WBD board approved a bid from Netflix. The WBD board accepted Netflix’s offer of $27.75 per share for Warner Bros. and HBO in an auction late last year, but Paramount has offered $30 per share.
The move comes after Paramount increased its offer earlier this month to include paying a $2.8 billion termination fee to Netflix and offered solutions to WBD’s debt financing costs and obligation. The final offer was $31 per share and a $7 billion termination fee.
“The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” Netflix said in a statement. “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 decision comes after WBD President and CEO David Zaslav said he considered Paramount’s offer to be “superior” to Netflix’s.
“We are pleased WBD’s Board has unanimously affirmed the superior value of our offer, which delivers to WBD shareholders superior value, certainty and speed to closing,” Paramount CEO David Ellison said in a statement.
The deal will still need final approval from the Trump administration.

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