Warner Bros. rejects Paramount deal, but the Netflix merger drama is only
just beginning

Date:
Wed, 17 Dec 2025 15:07:47 +0000

Description:
Warner Bros. tells shareholders to reject Paramount deal, but Netflix hasn't won the merger fight yet.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Warner Brothers Discovery just rejected Paramount's buyout offer The WBD board
favors the Netflix deal Don't expect a closed deal any time soon

Last week, it looked like Paramount might swoop in to steal Warner Bros. Discovery from Netflix with a hostile takeover bid that trumped the streaming giants offer, but now it seems WBD is sticking by its Stranger Things paramour.

Thats because the WBD board has officially rejected the bid from David Ellisons Paramount, calling it inadequate, with significant risks and costs imposed on our shareholders (via The Hollywood Reporter ).

Their complaints centered on two key issues.

The first is WBD has doubts Larry Ellison David Ellisons father, who is helping to finance the Paramount deal can provide the full backstop that Paramounts offer claims he can. Essentially, Larry Ellison is offering up a trust with assets and liabilities as a guarantor to Paramounts deal, but because the deal doesnt disclose what these assets are and because assets within the trust can be moved or changed, WBD isnt convinced this can serve
as a reliable backstop. (Image credit: Getty Images)

The second is over the involvement of Middle East sovereign funds. While the Ellisons involvement would arguably help to grease the regulatory wheels as Larry is a close ally of President Donald Trump the fear is that the money from Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar would just undo that political goodwill, as US lawmakers may not be keen to have these foreign powers so heavily involved with such a significant entertainment provider.

It likely doesnt help that Jared Kushners investment fund (Kushner is Trumps son-in-law) has also pulled out its financial support as part of the
Paramount deal.

WBD added that on top of this financial and regulatory uncertainty, it doesnt believe the Paramount deal is materially better than Netflixs offer. It sees it as more risk for no gain.

Netflix has also sent a letter to WBD shareholders to explain why its offer
is superior on multiple fronts. Far from the climax

While this sounds like the end of the story, it almost certainly isnt.

For a start, WBDs board doesnt have the final say on the Paramount offer: its shareholders do. While WBD's board has said in a letter to shareholders that Netflix's deal is superior, shareholders could still decide to sell their stake to Paramount.

Even if they agree with the boards assessment, Paramount may not back down.

Reports suggest David Ellison texted WBD CEO David Zaslav that Paramount could be willing to go above $30 a share, saying, Please note importantly, we did not include best and final in our bid. Netflix and Paramount are still sizing each other up (Image credit: Getty Images- Eva Marie Uzcategui)

Equally, if Paramounts consortium does come back with a better offer, Netflix could respond with an even bigger buyout agreement of its own. The dips in both Netflix and Paramounts stock prices suggest markets predict a bidding war.

Its also worth noting that while a lot of focus is on the US Governments thoughts on the deals especially given Trumps close personal ties to the Ellisons and his unprecedented promise of wanting to be directly involved in the decision-making process over the deal the US likely wont be the only government to weigh in. The EU will be weighing in too, and its commission doesnt seem to boast the same personal affinity for the Ellisons.

Theres still time for more to happen in 2025, but I expect the biggest developments wont happen until 2026 giving us plenty more time to watch how this drama unfolds. Personally, I cant wait for the Netflix-made
dramatization of it all.

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/streaming/warner-bros-rejects-paramount-deal-but-the -netflix-merger-drama-is-only-just-beginning


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