Weather 
Netflix dropped its bid to buy Warner Bros. after the studio announced Paramount’s latest bid to buy the entire company was “superior.”
“The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval. 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,” Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a statement.
They continued, “Warner Bros. is a world-class organization, and we want to thank David Zaslav, Gunnar Wiedenfels, Bruce Campbell, Brad Singer and the WBD Board for running a fair and rigorous process. We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S. But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”
PARAMOUNT REFUSES TO BACK DOWN IN WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY TAKEOVER FIGHT AGAINST NETFLIX
Earlier in the day, Warner Bros. Discovery said Paramount’s latest offer was “superior.”
“Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. today announced that its Board of Directors, following consultation with its independent financial and legal advisors, has determined that the previously disclosed proposal from Paramount Skydance Corporation constitutes a ‘Company Superior Proposal’ as defined in WBD’s merger agreement with Netflix, Inc.” the company said in a press release.
Paramount’s revised offer raises WBD’s value to $31.00 per share, putting the company’s evaluation at $111 billion. Paramount would additionally pay the $2.8 billion termination fee that would go to Netflix if WBD backs out of their deal.
“We are pleased WBD’s Board has unanimously affirmed the superior value of our offer, which delivers to WBD shareholders superior value, certainty and speed to closing,” Paramount CEO David Ellison said in a statement.
Ellison’s billionaire father Larry Ellison is personally backing Paramount’s bid committing $45.7 billion in equity through the Ellison Trust while Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi and Apollo will provide a $57.5 billion debt commitment.
Warner Bros. Discovery has given Netflix a March 4 deadline to make a counteroffer.
NETFLIX CO-CEO ACCUSES JAMES CAMERON OF SPREADING ‘MISINFORMATION’ ABOUT WARNER BROS. ACQUISITION
Meanwhile, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos was spotted in Washington, D.C. meeting with various federal officials in hopes of earning the Trump administration’s support for its bid as critics question whether its purchase of Warner Bros. would be in violation of anti-trust laws. The Ellisons have a cozier relationship with President Donald Trump.
In December, Warner Bros. announced it had reached a deal with Netflix to buy the Hollywood studio and HBO for $83 billion, prompting Paramount to launch a $108 billion hostile takeover bid for the entire company including all of its cable assets like CNN, which would be spun off into a separate company under the Netflix deal.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST MEDIA AND CULTURE NEWS
Both the Paramount and Netflix bids for Warner Bros. have sparked panic across the entertainment industry.
Critics of the Paramount bid fear putting two legacy studios under one company would lead to mass layoffs and worry about Ellison taking over CNN, while critics of Netflix are concerned about the streaming giant’s growing influence and whether it will commit to theatrical windows for film releases in support of movie theaters.
