Topline
Netflix has entered exclusive talks with Warner Bros. Discovery to acquire the media conglomerate’s film and TV studios and HBO Max streaming platform, multiple outlets reported, after a weeks-long bidding war in which the streaming giant beat out Paramount and Comcast.
Warner Bros. Discovery has reportedly entered exclusive talks with Netflix for a sale of its studio and TV businesses.
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Key Facts
According to Deadline and CNN, Netflix made the strongest offer of $28 per share for Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming businesses.
In comparison, Paramount Skydance reportedly offered $27 per share for the entire Warner Bros. Discovery business, including its cable channels like CNN and TNT.
Comcast also made a bid only for Warner’s studio and streaming businesses.
Bloomberg reported that both sides had begun exclusive negotiations and Netflix is offering Warner a $5 billion breakup fee if regulators don’t clear the deal.
Both companies are expected to announce the deal publicly in the coming days, the report added.
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Bloomberg and Variety reported that Paramount Skydance has cried foul over the sales process, labeling it “tainted”. In a letter sent to Warner’s CEO David Zaslav, Paramount’s attorneys alleged that Warner’s board had “embarked on a myopic process with a predetermined outcome that favors a single bidder,” refering to Netflix. The December 3 letter added that Warner appeared to have “abandoned the semblance and reality of a fair transaction process, thereby abdicating its duties to stockholders.” In an earlier letter sent on December 1, Paramount had argued that the Netflix deal would never get regulatory approval. “The simple truth is that a deal with Netflix as the buyer likely will never close…Netflix is the only remaining Big Tech company that has not faced serious global antitrust enforcement, but attempting to acquire the WBD assets will change that.”
This is a developing story.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/12/05/netflix-wins-warner-bros-discovery-bidding-war-and-starts-exclusive-talks-reports-say/
