Netflix drops bid to buy HBO, Warner Bros. Discovery

Netflix won’t be the new owners of Warner Bros. Discovery after all. Back in December, the company beat out Paramount with a huge $83 billion deal to acquire WBD, but today the company dropped its bid.

Despite Warner Bros. Discovery recognizing Netflix as the strongest offer in December, Paramount Skydance has continued to mount pressure on WBD to instead consider its evolving offer.

Netflix, Inc. today announced that it has declined to raise its offer for Warner Bros. Netflix had earlier received notice from Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that its Board of Directors has determined Paramount Skydance’s (PSKY) latest proposal constitutes a “Superior Proposal” under the terms of WBD’s existing merger agreement with Netflix.

As of today, Netflix has decided that it will not match Paramount’s bid, ending its plans to become the new owners of HBO as well as the Warner Bros. film and television studio.

Netflix issued the following statement in response from co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters: 

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. 

Netflix leadership called Warner Bros. Discovery “a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”

Now, rather than a technology-focused entertainment company buying a traditional film and television studio, the story shifts to two legacy studios essentially merging.

Meanwhile, Apple and Netflix announced plans today to make a content trade around Formula 1. The next season of Drive to Survive will be available on Apple TV in the United States, and the next F1 Canadian Grand Prix will stream on both Apple TV and Netflix.

Apple TV is the new home for Formula 1 streaming starting this season.

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