Netflix has converted its $82.7bn (£61.5bn) offer for the studios and streaming business of Warner Bros Discovery into an all-cash deal, aiming to speed up approval and block a hostile bid from Paramount Skydance.
The revised offer keeps the valuation at $27.75 per share but removes shares from the structure, giving investors greater certainty and potentially allowing a shareholder vote as early as April. WBD’s board continues to unanimously back the Netflix proposal.
Under the deal, WBD investors would also receive shares in a separate global networks company, including CNN and Discovery, which Netflix is not acquiring.
Paramount is pursuing a larger $108.4bn takeover and has attempted to challenge the Netflix agreement through legal action and a potential proxy fight. A Delaware judge has already rejected Paramount’s lawsuit.
If WBD walked away from the Netflix deal, it would owe a $2.8bn breakup fee and face billions more in additional costs, which the board has cited as a key risk of switching bids.
