Netflix drops bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, paving way for Paramount Skydance
#Netflix #Warner Bros. Discovery #Paramount Skydance #Corporate Bid #Streaming Wars #Media Merger #Antitrust Review
📌 Key Takeaways
- Netflix declined to match Paramount Skydance's $31 per share offer for Warner Bros. Discovery
- The streaming giant had previously agreed to a $27.75 per share ($82.7 billion) deal in December 2025
- Warner Bros. Discovery's board deemed Paramount's offer 'superior'
- The merger now moves forward to federal antitrust review
📖 Full Retelling
Netflix announced on Thursday, February 26, 2026, that it would not match Paramount Skydance's $31 per share offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, effectively ending its $83 billion bid and clearing the way for a potential merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery. The streaming giant had initially agreed in December 2025 to purchase part of Warner Bros. Discovery for $27.75 per share, totaling $82.7 billion. However, Paramount Skydance made a more attractive all-cash offer of $30 per share to acquire the entire company, and subsequently increased this to $31 per share on Tuesday. Earlier on Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery's board of directors had already determined that Paramount's offer constituted a 'superior proposal' for the company. In a statement, Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters explained that while their negotiated deal would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval, the increased price made it 'no longer financially attractive.' Warner Bros. Discovery encompasses a vast media empire including streaming services, film studios, and cable channels such as CNN, Food Network, HBO Max, TBS, and TNT. The potential merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery now moves forward, though it will still require approval from federal antitrust enforcers.
🏷️ Themes
Corporate Mergers, Media Industry, Streaming Competition
📚 Related People & Topics
Netflix
American video streaming service
# Netflix **Netflix** is an American subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) over-the-top streaming service. It serves as the primary distribution platform for both original and acquired content, including feature films, television series, documentaries, and specials across a vast array of genres and i...
Paramount Skydance
American mass media conglomerate
Paramount Skydance Corporation (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. The company is headquartered at the Paramount Pictures lot in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, with multiple of Paramount's divisions and subsidi...
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Donald Trump
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Warner Bros.
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Original Source
MoneyWatch Netflix drops $83 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, paving way for Paramount Skydance deal By Megan Cerullo Megan Cerullo Reporter, MoneyWatch Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting. Read Full Bio Megan Cerullo Updated on: February 26, 2026 / 6:44 PM EST / MoneyWatch Add CBS News on Google Netflix said on Thursday that it will not match Paramount Skydance's latest bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing the way for a massive merger that could shake up the entertainment and media industry. Netflix agreed in December to buy part of Warner Bros. Discovery for $27.75 a share, or $82.7 billion. But Paramount Skydance had made a $30 a share all-cash offer to buy all of the company, and on Tuesday raised its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery to $31 a share (Paramount Skydance owns CBS News.) Earlier on Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery's board of directors notified Netflix that Paramount's $31 per share offer constituted a "superior proposal" for the company. "The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval," Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a statement Thursday. "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." Paramount Skydance didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Warner Bros. Discovery owns streaming and film studios, along with cable channels including CNN, Food Network, HBO Max, TBS and TNT. The merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery will require approval from federal antitrust enforcers. Paramount Skydance executives have said that combining the companies would benefit consumers and help boost the ...
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