Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery have made it official, and CEO David Ellison sent a memo out to staff about the merger.
Paramount said in an official announcement on Friday that it had entered into a definitive merger agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery, giving the David Ellison-run media firm valuable assets such as HBO, CNN, and DC Studios.
Netflix, which was also vying for WBD, declined to raise its bid for the company on Thursday, effectively walking away from its offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming and studio assets.
Paramount made multiple offers for all of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its film studio, HBO, and cable networks such as CNN, rather than the slimmer asset package Netflix had pursued. WBD accepted its revised $31-per-share offer that Netflix declined to counter.
Politics may have played a role in the bidding war. President Donald Trump publicly expressed disapproval of Netflix’s bid, and Republican lawmakers sharply criticized the company at a recent congressional hearing, accusing it of promoting “woke” programming. Trump had also demanded that Netflix fire a board member.
Investor sentiment compounded those headwinds. Netflix shareholders had been signaling discomfort with the scale and risk of the acquisition for weeks, dragging down the stock. Shares rebounded sharply once it became clear that Paramount’s bid was gaining momentum.
Read the memo Ellison sent:
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