February 27, 2026 | 03:14 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Paramount Skydance is poised to emerge as the winner in a monthslong bidding war to buy Warner Bros. Discovery after streaming giant Netflix declined to raise its takeover offer on Thursday.
The board of Warner Bros. announced that Paramount's offer of $31-a-share (€26) was superior to the deal of $27.75 per share previously agreed on with Netflix for the storied Hollywood studio.
Netflix on its part said that the revised bid from Paramount made the deal "no longer financially attractive."
"The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval," Netflix said in its statement.
"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," the streaming service said.
Long-Standing Bidding Saga
In December, Netflix had reached a binding agreement with Warner, covering its studio and streaming operations.
Netflix backing away from making a counteroffer means that Warner's board is now free to axe its agreement with the streaming platform and proceed with Paramount.
"Once our board votes to adopt the Paramount merger agreement, it will create tremendous value for our shareholders," David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery said.
"We are excited about the potential of a combined Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery and can't wait to get started working together telling the stories that move the world."
There was no immediate statement from Paramount.
Critics Sound Alarm over Warner Takeover
The pursuit for the acquisition of Warner Bros. marks one of the biggest media bidding wars in a generation.
Unlike Netflix, which only wanted to buy Warner's studio and streaming business, Paramount wants the entire company, including its television networks like CNN.
A Paramount-Warner merger would reshape Hollywood and the broader media landscape.
It would bring together two major Hollywood studios and two streaming platforms, HBO Max and Paramount+.
It would also put CNN and CBS News under one ownership umbrella.
After the merger of Skydance and Paramount last year, CBS has witnessed marked editorial shifts, including conservative-friendly Free Press founder Bari Weiss taking on the role of editor-in-chief.
Critics have warned of similar changes at CNN if Paramount acquires Warner. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison and his billionaire father Larry Ellison have ties to US President Donald Trump.
US lawmakers and entertainment trade groups have said that Warner's buyout would lead to a further consolidation of power in an industry helmed by only a handful of major players.
They have raised concerns that the takeover could result in job cuts, less diversity in filmmaking and more setbacks for consumers who are already facing increasing costs of streaming subscriptions.
Read: Is Netflix Making Us Stupid?
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