Netflix gives up on Warner Bros after Paramount’s offer

The turning point comes after months of intense competition with Paramount led by David Ellison, which presented a proposal defined as superior by the board of directors of Warner Bros. Paramount’s offer, equal to $31 per share entirely in cash, seeks total control of the cinema group and the HBO Max service, surpassing the structure of the agreement previously signed with the streamer last December. The aggressiveness of Skydance’s maneuver, culminating in a legal battle and several revisions to the terms, finally convinced Warner Bros. to grant one last window to present the definitive offer which then sanctioned the change of course.

The conditions proposed by Paramount include full coverage of interruption penalties, including the $2.87 billion owed to Netflix for breaking the previous agreement and an additional daily commission in case of bureaucratic slippages beyond September 2026. Despite Netflix’s attempt to make its position more attractive by moving to an all-cash offer in January, and the reassurances provided by Sarandos during a recent US Senate hearing, the group preferred to avoid further raises. The exit marks the conclusion of a project that aimed to unify Hollywood’s major catalogs under a single digital umbrella.