Netflix Declines To Raise Offer For Warner Bros After Paramount Bid

SAN JOSE (California), Feb 27 (Bernama-dpa) -- Netflix has withdrawn from the bidding war for Warner Bros Discovery, saying it will not raise its offer after the target company deemed a sweetened proposal from Hollywood giant Paramount superior, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.

The streaming group said on Thursday the revised bid from Paramount made the transaction "no longer financially attractive." Earlier, Warner Bros Discovery formally classified Paramount's improved offer as "superior."

Despite that assessment, Warner's board maintained its recommendation that shareholders back Netflix's takeover proposal, according to a statement released after United States (US) market close. A shareholder vote is scheduled for March 20, and the existing merger agreement with Netflix remains in place.

Netflix and Warner reached a binding agreement in early December covering the studio and streaming businesses. Days later, Paramount approached shareholders directly with a US$108.4 billion offer for the entire Warner Bros Discovery group, including its television networks such as CNN. 

Netflix had offered around US$83 billion for the film studios and streaming operations. Netflix co-chief executives Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said the negotiated deal would have delivered shareholder value and offered 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," they said.

They added they were confident they could have stewarded Warner's "iconic brands" and strengthened the US entertainment industry, preserving and creating production jobs. "But this transaction was always a 'nice to have' at the right price, not a 'must have' at any price."

-- BERNAMA-dpa