It looks like Paramount Skydance will soon be the new owner of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Just a couple of hours after the David Zaslav-led media company’s board declared Paramount's new bid a “superior proposal,” Netflix announced that it had declined to increase its offer and had officially pulled out of the bidding war.
Netflix's swift response has come as quite a surprise, since the streamer had four business days to come up with a new proposal to salvage the deal.
Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters released the following joint statement.
“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. 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.”
“Netflix’s business is healthy, strong and growing organically, powered by our slate and best-in-class streaming service. This year, we’ll invest approximately $20 billion in quality films and series and will expand our entertaining offering. Consistent with our capital allocation policy, we’ll also resume our share repurchase program. We will continue to do what we’ve done for more than 20 years as a public company: delight our members, profitably grow our business, and drive long-term shareholder value.”
With Netflix out, Paramount’s latest bid is pretty much a sure thing to be accepted by WBD.
“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 shortly before Netflix backed out.
If the deal goes through, Paramount will have access to the following:
Assets:
• TNT
• CBS
• CNN
• MTV
• TCM
• Showtime
• Adult Swim
• DC Studios
• Nickelodeon
• HBO/HBO Max
• Comedy Central
• Cartoon Network
Film Rights:
• Star Trek
• Gremlins
• Beetlejuice
• DC Comics
• Tom & Jerry
• Harry Potter
• Citizen Kane
• Transformers
• A Quiet Place
• Looney Tunes
• The Conjuring
• Mortal Kombat
• Game of Thrones
• Dora The Explorer
• Mission Impossible
• The Lord of the Rings
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles