Netflix outbid Paramount and Comcast to accumulate Warner Bros Discovery’s streaming and studio belongings in a $72 billion deal.
Netflix locked down a historic $72 billion acquisition Friday, grabbing management of Warner Bros Discovery’s movie studios, TV manufacturing items and streaming platforms, outbidding Paramount, Skydance and Comcast in a high-stakes race that redrew the map of Hollywood’s media empires.
The deal arms Netflix the keys to a century’s value of iconic mental property, together with the Batman, Superman, Harry Potter and Recreation of Thrones franchises.
It additionally provides the streaming juggernaut full possession of HBO Max and Warner Bros.’s manufacturing infrastructure, additional cementing its grip on the worldwide content material market.
Netflix supplied $27.75 per share in a mixture of money and inventory for Warner Bros Discovery’s streaming and studio belongings, whereas the corporate’s cable networks, together with CNN and TNT, might be spun off right into a separate enterprise.
The transfer comes as Warner Bros Discovery wrestled with $40.4 billion in debt and a $148 million loss in Q3. CEO David Zaslav introduced in June 2025 that the corporate would break up its operations to draw potential patrons. The formal sale course of started in October after Warner Bros obtained a number of unsolicited provides.
Paramount Skydance countered with a $ 27-per-share bid to accumulate the complete firm, together with the cable networks. Comcast additionally threw its hat within the ring by NBCUniversal. However Netflix’s focused proposal, which excluded the much less worthwhile cable belongings, gained over shareholders.
The acquisition provides Netflix a large leg up within the streaming wars, permitting it to lean on confirmed franchises moderately than construct new ones from scratch. The corporate closed 2024 with 302 million subscribers worldwide, including 19 million new customers within the final quarter alone.
Netflix expects to finalize the deal inside 12 to 18 months, pending regulatory clearance and the completion of Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable community spinoff, slated for Q3 2026.
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