Warner Bros. Discovery’s board has changed its tune after Paramount Skydance’s most recent effort to thwart the Netflix merger-acquisition. On Tuesday, Feb. 24, Paramount submitted a revised all-cash bid of $31 per share to buy WBD in its entirety. Warner Bros. has reviewed the proposal and, on Thursday, announced that its board of directors finds the offer to be “superior” to the Netflix agreement. Netflix has four days to respond.
If this new bid is approved, Paramount would not only pay $31 per share in cash, but it’d also be on the hook for a $2.8 billion termination fee that WBD would owe Netflix for backing out of their agreement. Additionally, the company would also be responsible for paying “a daily ticking fee equal to $0.25 per share per quarter beginning after September 30, 2026,” according to WBD, and pony up $7 billion should the deal not pass regulatory requirements.
Netflix, meanwhile, has been formally notified and can choose to revise its offer — or walk away. Should the streamer move to amend its deal, WBD’s board and team of financial and legal advisors will decide which of the two companies ultimately has submitted the best proposal. Paramount’s deal is backed by cash from Larry Ellison, the billionaire father of Paramount CEO David Ellison.
The merger-acquisition plan between Netflix and WBD was originally announced Dec. 5 for $83 billion (stocks and cash), which would enable the streamer to attain HBO, HBO Max and the Warner Bros. studio business. The deal has since seen several takeover bids from Paramount, prompting Netflix to switch to an all-cash deal in January while Paramount engaged in a back-and-forth to acquire all of WBD’s assets.
Today’s announcement arrives on the day of WBD’s Q4 earnings call, and the same day that Netflix’s co-CEO visited Washington, DC, to meet with officials amid the Paramount bid. While 11 state attorneys general have expressed opposition to the WBD-Netflix deal, during a pre-Super Bowl interview with NBC, President Trump stated he would not get involved in this ongoing fight over WBD.
