Netflix said it is now willing to pay all cash for Warner Bros. Discovery, in a revision of what was originally a deal involving a combination of cash and stocks. The two companies announced the amended plan on Tuesday morning, hoping that this deal will fend off Paramount’s hostile takeover bid for all of WBD.
Netflix had announced last month that it reached a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing an end to the dramatic bidding process that also saw Paramount Skydance and Comcast vying for legacy assets.
The deal is for WBD’s film studio and streaming service, HBO Max. Warner Bros. Discovery will still spin out its TV networks, which includes TNT and CNN, as previously planned.
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Netflix is offering $27.75 per WBD share for the company’s movie studio and streaming assets, which are due to be split off into a new publicly traded company called Warner Bros. later this year. Meanwhile, Paramount launched a hostile takeover bid worth $108.4 billion for the company. WBD said that its board determined Paramount’s offer is not in the best interests of the company or its shareholders.
Netflix said on Tuesday that the transaction will be financed “through a combination of cash on hand, available credit facilities and committed financing.” This “simplifies the transaction structure, provides greater certainty of value for WBD stockholders, and accelerates the path to a WBD stockholder vote,” the companies said in a press release.
WBD CEO David Zaslav said Tuesday that once the company clears its review by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, WBD will schedule a special shareholder meeting to vote on the deal. He expects that would happen in the spring.
READ: Netflix strikes deal to buy Warner Bros Discovery for $27.75 per share (December 5, 2025)
Samuel A. Di Piazza, Jr., chair of the WBD board of directors, said Tuesday, “By transitioning to all-cash consideration, we can now deliver the incredible value of our combination with Netflix at even greater levels of certainty, while providing our stockholders the opportunity to participate in management’s strategic plans to realize the value of Discovery Global’s iconic brands and global reach.”
Paramount, on the other hand, has argued that the channels have little to no equity value. It filed a lawsuit earlier this month in Delaware, to pursue more information about the valuation “so that,” CEO David Ellison said, “WBD shareholders have what they need to be able to make an informed decision as to whether to tender their shares into our offer.”