Netflix declines to raise bid for Warner Bros. after Paramount offer

Netflix has declined to raise its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery after the company’s board determined a higher bid from Paramount Skydance constitutes a superior proposal.

On Thursday, Netflix said it would not match Paramount Skydance’s latest $31-per-share offer. Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of Warner Bros. studio and the HBO Max streaming platform, had previously entered into a merger agreement with Netflix.

Warner Bros. Discovery informed Netflix that its board had determined Paramount Skydance’s revised proposal constituted a “Superior Proposal” under the terms of Netflix’s existing merger agreement.

“The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a 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.”

Paramount’s latest offer, submitted Tuesday, values Warner Bros. Discovery at roughly $111 billion and includes the company’s cable networks and streaming assets, according to Variety. The bid raises the purchase price to $31 per share in cash and increases the regulatory breakup fee to $7 billion if the deal collapses due to government action.

Paramount also said it would cover the $2.8 billion termination fee Warner Bros. Discovery would owe Netflix for ending their agreement, according to Variety.

Netflix said its business remains strong and that it plans to invest about $20 billion this year in films and series while resuming its share repurchase program.