Paramount poised to acquire Warner Bros after Netflix drops bid
A Paramount merger with Warner Bros would unite two major Hollywood studios, two streaming platforms and two news operations
Paramount Skydance, run by pro-Trump technology heir David Ellison, was poised to take control of Warner Bros. Discovery after Netflix said it would not raise its takeover offer, ending one of the biggest media bidding wars in a generation.
The deal puts a constellation of media properties - from CNN to Nickelodeon to HBO - under the control of the family led by Oracle tycoon and White House ally Larry Ellison.
Netflix said it was “declining to match” Paramount’s latest offer after the Warner Bros. board declared it a “Superior Proposal” under the terms of its existing merger agreement with Netflix.
“The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” Netflix said in a statement on 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,” it added.