The group officially announced that it has rejected the amended offer made by Paramount for its acquisition, stating that it remains “inferior” to the agreement with Netflix.
The bidding war for the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has a clear favorite, and it seems that Paramount’s repeated efforts to win this battle have not paid off.
After Netflix and WBD announced a definitive agreement whereby Netflix will acquire the group for US$82.7 billion, Paramount launched not one, but two offers to try to attract WBD’s shareholders.
The first, announced on December 8, was valued at US$108.4 billion and was eventually rejected by WBD’s shareholders, who stated that the offer “does not meet the criterion of a superior offer compared to the Netflix offer.”
In response, Paramount made a new offer to WBD on December 22, increasing the termination fee by US$5.8 billion, matching Netflix’s offer. However, the offer was officially rejected on Wednesday, January 7.
“The Board unanimously determined that the Paramount’s latest offer remains inferior to our merger agreement with Netflix across multiple key areas,” said Samuel A. Di Piazza, Jr., Chair of the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors.
“Paramount’s offer continues to provide insufficient value, including terms such as an extraordinary amount of debt financing that create risks to close and lack of protections for our shareholders if a transaction is not completed. Our binding agreement with Netflix will offer superior value at greater levels of certainty, without the significant risks and costs Paramount’s offer would impose on our shareholders.”
“Accordingly, the Board unanimously recommends that shareholders not tender your shares into the PSKY offer”.
The agreement between Netflix and WBD includes the purchase of its film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO.
The cash-and-stock transaction is valued at US$27.75 per share of WBD (subject to a purchase agreement), with a total enterprise value of approximately US$82.7 billion. The transaction is expected to close following the previously announced spin-off of Discovery Global, WBD’s Global Networks division, into a new publicly traded company, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026.
This acquisition unites two pioneering entertainment businesses, combining Netflix’s innovation, global reach, and streaming service with Warner Bros.’ century-long legacy of world-class storytelling.
