Netflix drops bid to buy Warner Bros.

As Netflix has dropped its bid to buy Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount has stepped in with a landmark $111b deal. In December 2025, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced that they had entered into a definitive agreement under which Netflix would acquire Warner Bros., including its film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO.

A statement from Netflix at the time said the transaction was expected to close after the previously announced separation of WBD’s Global Networks division, Discovery Global, into a new publicly-traded company, which was expected to be completed in Q3 2026.The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of Directors of both Netflix and WBD. It valued Warner Bros. Discovery at $27.75 per share, implying a total equity value of approximately $72.0b and an enterprise value of approximately $82.7b.

It has now been announced that Netflix as dropped this bid, as a result of Paramount’s latest proposal for the company.This week, Paramount issued a rival proposal to pay more for a Warner Bros. takeover. The company offered $31 per share in cash, up from $30 per share to take over the entire company. It also agreed to pay $7b should the deal fall through and cover the $2.8b fee Warner Bros had agreed to pay Netflix in the event of a break-up of the merger plan.

The current deal with Paramount will be worth around $111b.As was seen in the original agreement with Netflix, if Paramount remains the buyer, it will gain control of the studio’s entirety along with its films and media networks.If the proposed acquisition is successful, the deal will also have to be approved by the California Department of Justice, the US Department of Justice and European regulators before it is finalised.