Warner Bros. Discovery's board declared Paramount's offer superior to Netflix's deal
Paramount increased its bid to $31 per share, valuing Warner Bros. at $77 billion
Netflix has four business days to revise its bid or risk losing the acquisition
The deal faces regulatory scrutiny with Senate hearings scheduled and White House meetings
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Warner Bros. Discovery's board of directors declared Thursday that Paramount Skydance's latest acquisition offer, including its cable networks, is 'superior' to the current deal with Netflix, giving the streaming giant four business days to revise its bid after Paramount increased the purchase price to $31 per share, valuing the company at approximately $77 billion. The Paramount offer, which was updated on Tuesday, includes a $7 billion reverse termination fee if regulators block the deal and reimbursement for Warner Bros. Discovery's potential costs to cancel its agreement with Netflix. This comes after Netflix and Warner Bros. had previously agreed to a $72 billion deal under which Netflix would acquire Warner Bros. Discovery's film studio, HBO, and the HBO Max streaming service. Warner Bros. indicated it could terminate that agreement if any revised proposal from Netflix is not deemed superior to Paramount's offer. The announcement comes amid heightened regulatory scrutiny, with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos reportedly meeting with White House officials and the Justice Department's antitrust division in Washington, D.C. Sarandos was seen arriving at the White House just before 4 p.m. ET. This follows his meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office late last year, where Trump expressed concerns about the Netflix-Warner Bros. combination potentially creating market dominance issues. Meanwhile, David Ellison, Paramount Skydance's CEO and son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, was also in Washington this week, attending President Trump's State of the Union address as a guest of Sen. Lindsey Graham. Warner Bros. had previously rejected multiple Paramount offers, prompting the Ellison-run company to escalate its efforts into a hostile takeover attempt, which in turn led Netflix to amend its bid to an all-cash offer. Warner Bros. shareholders are scheduled to vote on the pending transaction on March 20, though any deal must still receive approval from government regulators.
🏷️ Themes
Corporate Mergers, Media Industry, Regulatory Scrutiny, Market Competition
General term for rules, including delegated legislation and self-regulation
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For example:
in government, typically regulation (or its...
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the target) by another (the acquirer or bidder). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.
Management of the target company may or ma...
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...
A United States congressional hearing is the principal formal method by which United States congressional committees collect and analyze information in the early stages of legislative policymaking. Whether confirmation hearings (a procedure unique to the United States Senate), legislative, oversight...
Warner Bros. Discovery says Paramount's offer is 'superior' to Netflix deal Netflix has four business days to revise its previous bid. The Paramount studios in Los Angeles. Eric Thayer / Getty Images Share Add NBC News to Google Feb. 26, 2026, 4:24 PM EST / Updated Feb. 26, 2026, 4:42 PM EST By Allie Canal and Steve Kopack Listen to this article with a free account 00:00 00:00 Warner Bros. Discovery's board of directors said Thursday that Paramount Skydance's latest offer to acquire the company, including its cable networks, is "superior" to its current deal with Netflix. In a news release , Warner Bros. said it has alerted Netflix about the decision and that the company will have four business days to respond with a counter. Paramount's updated offer, released Tuesday , raised the purchase price to $31 a share from $30 — a deal that would value Warner Bros. Discovery at roughly $77 billion. The proposal also included a $7 billion reverse termination fee if regulators block the deal, along with reimbursement for Warner Bros. Discovery’s potential cost to cancel its deal with Netflix. Netflix and Warner Bros. had previously agreed to a $72 billion deal, in which Netflix would acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s film studio, along with HBO and the HBO Max streaming service. Warner Bros. said it could terminate that deal if any revised proposal from Netflix is not deemed superior to Paramount's offer. Netflix and Paramount did not immediately return requests for comment. The announcement from Warner Bros. comes as Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos was reportedly set to meet with White House officials and the Justice Department's antitrust division in Washington, D.C. Sarandos was seen arriving at the White House just before 4 p.m. ET. It would not be the Netflix executive's first visit to the executive mansion. Late last year Sarandos visited Trump in the Oval Office. "I met with Ted. I think he's fantastic," the president told reporters on Dec. 7. But moments later, Trump said...
