Netflix has abandoned its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery after the entertainment giant’s board determined that a higher offer from Paramount Skydance was superior.
In a statement on Thursday, Netflix confirmed it would walk away from the acquisition battle but will receive a $2.8 billion breakup fee following the termination of its previously agreed deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.
The development came after Warner Bros. Discovery’s board said Paramount Skydance’s latest $111 billion proposalsurpassed Netflix’s earlier $82.7 billion offer.
“[A]t 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 co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a joint statement.
The takeover battle for Warner Bros. Discovery has unfolded over several months following the company’s plan to restructure its operations.
In June 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav announced plans to split the company, separating its streaming and studios businesses from other television and sports brands.
The planned spin-off would create a new entity, Discovery Global, which would house assets including CNN, TNT Sports, Discovery’s European free-to-air channels, and digital platforms such as Discovery+ and Bleacher Report.
In October 2025, Paramount Skydance made an unsolicited bid of nearly $60 billion, or $24 per share, for Warner Bros. Discovery. According to reports, the board rejected the proposal.
The rejection triggered a wider bidding war involving Netflix and Comcast.
On December 5, 2025, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery announced they had reached a definitive agreement for a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $27.75 per share, giving Warner Bros. Discovery an enterprise value of about $82.7 billion.
The companies said at the time that the deal was expected to close after the spin-off of Discovery Global, anticipated in the third quarter of 2026.
However, just three days after the agreement was announced, Paramount Skydance launched a hostile all-cash takeover bid for the entire company — including Discovery Global — offering $30 per share, valuing the business at $108.4 billion.
The battle escalated further in January when Paramount filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery, arguing that its all-cash offer of $30 per share was superior to Netflix’s $27.75-per-share proposal.
Earlier this week, Paramount increased its offer to $31 per share, prompting Warner Bros. Discovery to say the proposal “could reasonably be expected to lead to a ‘company superior proposal’.”
Following that determination, Netflix opted not to raise its bid.
“We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S. But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price,” Sarandos and Peters said.
The executives also indicated that Netflix plans to continue investing heavily in its core business, including spending about $20 billion this year on films and television series as it expands its entertainment offerings.
Paramount Skydance said its proposal includes funding the termination fee payable to Netflix.
Investors responded positively to the development. In after-hours trading, Netflix shares rose more than 8 per cent, while Paramount’s stock climbed 6 per cent. Warner Bros. Discovery shares, however, edged down 1.7 per cent.
Boluwatife Enome
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