UPDATED 21:05 EST / FEBRUARY 26 2026

APPS

Netflix backs out of Warner Bros. bidding war after Paramount raises offer

Video streaming giant Netflix Inc. today said it won’t be raising its offer to take over Warner Bros Discovery Inc. after Paramount Skydance Corp. stepped in with a larger bid.

Netflix agreed in December to purchase a stake in Warner Bros. Discovery at $27.75 per share, valuing the company at about $82.7 billion. However, Paramount Skydance had already submitted an all-cash offer of $30 per share to acquire the entire company, and on Tuesday, increased its bid for Warner Bros. to $31 per share.

Today, Warner Bros. Discovery’s board informed Netflix that Paramount’s $31-per-share bid qualified as a “superior proposal.”

“The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters 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 men went on, saying they believe Netflix would have been “strong steward” of the Warner Bros brand, a deal that would have “strengthened the entertainment industry” and created more production jobs in the U.S. Yet they added the deal was always about getting Warner Bros. at the right price, not a “must have at any price” for the streaming giant.

The merger will still need to be approved by antitrust regulators. Concerns have been raised by industry groups and lawmakers that it could stifle competition. Paramount, which is backed by tech billionaire Larry Ellison and led by his son David, has agreed to pay a $7 billion termination fee if the deal collapses. It will also cover the $2.8 billion fee Warner Bros had agreed to pay Netflix if the merger plan broke up.

Some of Paramount Skydance’s major brands include Nickelodeon, CBS and Comedy Central. If the deal goes ahead, its portfolio will grow to include Warner Bros.’ HBO Max streaming, CNN, the Food Network and a number of sports channels.

Photo: Unsplash

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