WBD said Thursday that its Board of Directors, after consulting independent financial and legal advisers, determined that Paramount Skydance’s previously disclosed proposal qualifies as a “Company Superior Proposal” under the terms of its existing merger agreement with Netflix, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
According to details released earlier this week, Paramount Skydance has offered $31.00 per WBD share in cash. The proposal also includes a daily ticking fee equivalent to $0.25 per share per quarter beginning after Sept. 30, 2026. In addition, the bid features a $7 billion regulatory termination fee payable by Paramount Skydance if the transaction fails to close due to regulatory issues.
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The latest offer values WBD at approximately $111 billion. Following the announcement, Netflix — the world’s largest streaming platform by subscriber base — confirmed it is withdrawing from the bidding process.
In a joint statement, Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said the originally negotiated transaction would have delivered shareholder value with what they described as a clear path to regulatory approval. However, they emphasized that matching Paramount Skydance’s revised bid would not be financially prudent.
“We’ve always been disciplined,” the executives said, adding that at the price required to compete with the latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, prompting Netflix to decline to match the bid.
Netflix initially stunned the entertainment industry on Dec. 5 when it unveiled an $82.7 billion agreement to acquire WBD. Paramount Skydance later launched a hostile bid, turning the proposed merger into the focal point of an expanding national debate over media consolidation.
Unlike Netflix’s proposal — which would have included WBD’s film studio and streaming service while spinning off its cable networks into a separate publicly traded company — Paramount Skydance’s offer seeks to acquire the entire company outright.
