Paramount is set to buy Warner Bros. Discovery after Netflix dropped out of bidding, setting up another major Hollywood merger. On Thursday, Netflix said the price no longer makes financial sense. Paramount topped Netflix’s earlier offer and aims to buy the whole company. Executives say the deal will help them compete in streaming and create bigger movie and television libraries. Paramount is also targeting about $6 billion in savings through overlapping job cuts. Theater owners have warned about more consolidation under any new ownership of Warner Bros. Paramount's purchase isn't a sure thing — regulators have already started reviews, and plans for HBO Max and Paramount+ remain unclear.
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Netflix is declining to raise its offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business in a stunning move that effectively puts Paramount in a position to take over its storied Hollywood rival. On Thursday, after Warner’s board announced that Skydance-owned Paramount’s offer was superior to the agreement it had previously struck with Netflix, the streaming giant said the new price that would be required to buy Warner would make it a deal that is “no longer financially attractive.” Unlike Netflix’s bid, Paramount wants all of Warner’s operations, including networks like CNN and Discovery. That would put CNN under the same roof as Paramount’s CBS and combine two of Hollywood’s last five remaining studios.