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Warner Bros. Discovery said connected Tuesday (February 17, 2026) it has reopened talks with Paramount Skydance connected its buyout offer, giving the institution a week to bushed a rival Netflix bid.
These discussions, scheduled to extremity February 23, are designed to springiness Paramount Skydance a accidental to marque its “best and last offer,” Warner Bros. Discovery said successful a connection that stressed it prefers the Netflix merger and has scheduled a peculiar shareholders gathering to ballot connected it connected March 20.
Television and movie titan Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN, announced successful precocious October that it was unfastened to acquisition offers. Its committee subsequently accepted a bid from Netflix to bargain lone its streaming and workplace business.
Paramount Skydance is seeking to bargain each of Warner Bros. Discovery for $108 billion. Netflix is offering $83 cardinal for its much constricted merger.
The Netflix connection does not see Warner Bros. Discovery’s tv properties specified arsenic CNN and Discovery. Those would beryllium to a recently created, publically traded institution called Discovery Global if the woody goes through.
Paramount Skydance accuses the Warner Bros. Discovery committee of failing to contiguous shareholders with the details needed to decently comparison its connection to the Netflix bid.
During the talks that opened Tuesday, Warner Bros. Discovery said it volition sermon “deficiencies that stay unresolved and clarify definite presumption of PSKY’s projected merger agreement.”
Paramount CEO David Ellison insists that his offer, mostly financed by his father, multi-billionaire Larry Ellison, volition not look the regulatory scrutiny successful the U.S. and Europe that could derail oregon earnestly hold the Netflix deal.
With that successful mind, Paramount has offered to wage Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders a “ticking fee” of 25 cents per stock — astir $650 cardinal per 4th — for each 4th the woody is not closed beyond December 31, 2026.
Paramount has besides pledged to screen the $2.8 cardinal termination interest owed if Warner Bros. Discovery walks distant from the Netflix agreement.
Paramount’s connection is afloat financed by $43.6 cardinal successful equity commitments from Larry Ellison and RedBird Capital Partners, alongside $54 cardinal successful indebtedness financing from Bank of America, Citigroup, and Apollo Global Management.
Critics accidental Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros. would springiness the streaming elephantine excessively overmuch power implicit Hollywood production, which is already nether unit from the streaming gyration and Netflix’s deficiency of committedness to theatrical releases for its movies.
To code concerns astir theatrical distribution, Netflix has committed to giving Warner Bros. films a 45-day theatrical model if the acquisition goes through.
A palmy buyout by Paramount would spot a large media spot that includes CNN autumn nether the power of the Ellison family, which has adjacent ties to the Trump administration.
David Ellison’s caller takeover of CBS, portion of the Paramount empire, has brought large editorial changes to its quality sum that are wide seen arsenic much sympathetic to blimpish criticisms of mainstream media successful the United States.
Larry Ellison is besides a large capitalist successful the U.S. operations of TikTok, astatine the invitation of President Donald Trump.
At a caller Senate hearing, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos faced questions from Republicans astir alleged governmental bias, telling lawmakers that “Netflix has nary governmental docket of immoderate kind.”
