Reuters reported that Netflix had earlier agreed to buy those assets, excluding cable networks, for $27.75 per share, valuing the deal at about $82.7 billion. Warner Bros. Discovery later opened a seven-day window for discussions with Paramount Skydance over a revised offer while retaining Netflix’s proposal.
The process concluded in late February when Paramount’s revised $31-per-share bid was deemed superior to Netflix’s offer. Netflix subsequently withdrew, saying the price required to match the offer was no longer financially attractive. Paramount later agreed to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal valued at about $110 billion that is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Paramount said the investors will not receive governance rights such as board seats or voting rights, meaning their involvement would not require approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Before stepping away from the deal, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, speaking to the BBC in London, said the involvement of investors from “a part of the world that is not very big on the First Amendment” was a “bad idea”.
“It seems very odd to me with the level of investment that we’re talking about that they’d have no influence or editorial control over media in another country,” Sarandos said.
The proposed transaction would combine Paramount with Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing together major media assets including HBO, CNN and CBS, and is expected to face antitrust scrutiny in the United States and other jurisdictions.
(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)
