Paramount announces $110B deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros Discovery has agreed to a deal with Paramount Skydance, the two companies confirmed Friday in a news release.
According to the release, Paramount plans to acquire Warner Bros. in a transaction valued at about $110 billion.
Under the terms of the agreement, Paramount will pay "$31.00 per share in cash for all outstanding shares of WBD."
"The merger unlocks innovative and compelling storytelling opportunities across the combined company's best-in-class film and television studios, streaming and linear platforms," the release stated.
According to the release, the board of directors of both companies approved the deal unanimously.
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, "subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory clearances and approval by WBD shareholders, with a vote expected in the early spring of 2026."
Paramount launched a hostile takeover bid in December to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, just days after Netflix struck a deal to purchase a large part of the media giant.
Earlier this week, Netflix announced that it would decline to raise its offer to continue to pursue the transaction.
In an SEC filing Friday, Netflix confirmed it had received the $2.8 billion termination fee owed to Netflix in accordance to the terms of the deal.
"The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval," Netflix said in a statement on Thursday.
"However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid," Netflix said in the statement.
It was announced in June that Warner Bros. Discovery -- the parent company of brands including CNN, HGTV, Food Network and HBO -- would separate into two publicly traded companies: a streaming and studios company and a global networks company.
Streaming and studios would include Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO and HBO Max and more, while global networks would include the company's portfolio of entertainment, sports, and news television networks and brands, as well as its digital products, according to a June press release.
At first, streaming giant Netflix appeared to win the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery in December, when the two firms announced their merger. Within days, however, Paramount announced its hostile bid, meaning Paramount planned to appeal to Warner Bros. Discover shareholders in an effort to overcome the wishes of management.
