Spanish
International Writing.- Netflix will acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), including the film and television studios, as well as HBO and HBO Max, for 82.7 billion dollars, the two companies announced this Friday in a joint statement
Netflix's final offer has been $27.75 per share of WBD, compared to the $24 proposed by Paramount, which, along with Cromcast, were the three interested parties in the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The transaction is expected to close following the announced separation of Discovery Global, the television-focused company, which will encompass CNN, TNT Sports, Discovery+ and free-to-air channels in Europe. This operation is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026.
Offers for all or part of WBD began in October with an offer from Paramount of $27 per share for one hundred percent of the company.
Netflix and Comcast later joined the bidding, which has had two rounds, the last one on December 1st. But their offers were only for a part of the company, without including Discovery Global.
Paramount denounced yesterday in an open letter bias in the process, alleging that it favored Netflix.
Netflix's purchase of WBD represents the merger of two of the main audiovisual entertainment companies.
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The catalog will include HBO productions such as 'The Big Bang Theory', 'The Sopranos' or 'Game of Thrones', or films like 'The Wizard of Oz' and from the DC universe, which will join Netflix series like 'Wednesday', 'Money Heist', 'Bridgerton' or 'Adolescence'. "Our mission has always been to entertain the world," said Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, in the statement. "By combining the incredible collection of series and films from Warner Bros. - from timeless classics like 'Casablanca' and 'Citizen Kane' to modern classics like the Harry Potter saga - with culture-defining titles like 'Stranger Things', 'KPop Demon Hunters' and 'The Squid Game'." While Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav assured that "today's announcement brings together two of the world's most important storytelling companies to bring even more people the entertainment they enjoy most."
