After Netflix backed away from its proposal to buy Warner Bros Discovery, the company has agreed to be acquired by Paramount Skydance. The mega $110 billion deal was signed on Friday, Feb. 27.
In a global townhall by the company, Warner Bros' chief revenue and strategy officer Bruce Campbell said Netflix had the "legal right to match the PSKY offer". "As you all know, they ultimately decided not to do that. That then resulted in a signed agreement with PSKY as of this morning. So that's where everything stands," Reuters quoted Campbell as saying.
The new agreement caps a bidding war after the streaming giant declined to match Paramount's $31-per-share offer that was deemed superior by Warner Bros to Netflix's $27.75-per-share agreement for its studio and streaming assets.
Also Read Netflix Drops Warner Bros Bid, Leaving Paramount The Winner
Warner Bros put itself up for sale last year. On Thursday, Feb. 26, the company stated that Paramount's latest bid was "superior" to the one from Netflix, which in turn decided not to raise its offer. Executives at the streaming platform said they have declined to match Paramount's bid as "the deal is no longer financially attractive" at that price.
Shares of Paramount have jumped by 24%, while Netflix increased by 13% as investors welcomed the decision to back out of the Warner Bros race.
In December 2025, Warner Bros agreed to a takeover bid from Netflix for some of its assets. At that time, the deal was worth roughly $82 billion, including debt, BBC reported. However, Paramount later made a rival proposal that was rebuffed by Warner Bros at first. Later on, an increased offer was made earlier this week that was boosted by $1 per share.
Paramount is now expected to comfortably win European Union antitrust approval, with any required divestments likely to be minor, as per Reuters.
But the merger has drawn scrutiny from California State Attorney General Rob Bonta, who noted that the state is probing the Paramount deal and will be "vigorous" in its review.
The deal includes nearly $29 billion in debt and is being looked upon as one of Hollywood's biggest media shake-ups. It will help create one of the largest film studios in the world and allow Paramount to take over Warner's trove of intellectual property, which includes "Fantastic Beasts" and "The Matrix" franchises.
Further, it will help Paramount to strengthen its streaming efforts through HBO Max and Paramount+, thus enabling it to gain significant market share and compete with Netflix.
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