Netflix has reportedly retained a financial advisory firm Moelis & Co to explore a potential bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
The streaming service has reportedly enlisted the investment bank to evaluate a potential offer for Warners’ streaming and studio business, following its work advising Skydance Media on its Paramount Global bid, granting Netflix access to WBD’s necessary financial details.
A source close to events confirmed Thursday night that the streamer is “looking into” the possibility of a move on part of WBD. Netflix declined to comment.
Following WBD’s rejection of Paramount’s second bid, the company made a market-moving declaration, its first confirmation that it is indeed for sale. WBD said it’s initiated a strategic review process in light of “unsolicited interest” from “multiple parties.”
Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters previously appeared to shut down speculation of a studio merger. “You have to do that by the hard work of developing those capabilities in the trenches day to day. You don’t get there simply by buying another company that is also still developing those same capabilities,” he said on the streamer’s quarterly earnings webcast.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos added, “We’ve been very clear in the past that we have no interest in owning legacy media networks, so there is no change there.”
Earlier this month, Netflix jumped aggressively into the video podcasting space after striking a partnership with Spotify. It was one in a string of moves by the streamer to take content, in this case video podcasts, that exists elsewhere and stream it on its service.
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