Netflix backs WBD board, doubles down on blockbuster merger

CALIFORNIA: Netflix has thrown its full weight behind Warner Bros. Discovery’s board, endorsing its unanimous decision to stick with the Netflix merger and rebuff Paramount Skydance’s revised takeover bid. The message from Los Gatos is unequivocal: this is the deal that matters.

After what it called a “comprehensive and rigorous” review, the WBD board has reaffirmed that the Netflix transaction delivers the best outcome for shareholders, creators and audiences alike. Netflix welcomed the stance, describing the agreement as a rare alignment of scale, creative muscle and financial certainty in an industry addicted to leverage and noise.

Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, co-ceos of Netflix, said the combination would fuse two complementary storytelling powerhouses. Together, they argued, Netflix and Warner Bros. would expand creative opportunities, strengthen theatrical and streaming slates, and sharpen competition across a rapidly consolidating entertainment landscape.

The economics are hefty. Under the agreement announced in December, Netflix will acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a cash-and-stock deal valuing WBD at $27.75 per share, with an enterprise value of about $82.7 billion. Crucially, the structure preserves the planned spin-off of Discovery Global, WBD’s linear networks arm, expected to list in Q3 2026.

Regulatory wheels are already turning. Netflix has filed under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and is engaging with competition authorities in the US and Europe. The companies expect the deal to close within 12 to 18 months.

The contrast with the rival bid is stark. Only a day earlier, WBD’s board had dismissed Paramount Skydance’s offer as risky, debt-heavy and poor value, urging shareholders not to tender their stock. Netflix’s endorsement underlines that assessment, reinforcing the sense that the race is no longer close.

In a streaming world crowded with ambition but short on conviction, Netflix and Warner Bros. are betting on scale with purpose. If approved, the merger will not just reshape balance sheets—it will redraw the map of global storytelling.