Netflix won a bid to buy Warner Bros., agreeing to pay $72 billion for the Burbank-based Warner Bros. film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO.
The two companies announced the blockbuster deal early Friday morning. The takeover will give Netflix beloved characters such as Batman, Harry Potter and Fred Flintstone.
“Our mission has always been to entertain the world,” Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, said in a statement. “By uniting Warner Bros.” “An incredible library of shows and movies—from timeless classics like Casablanca and Citizen Kane to modern favorites like Harry Potter and Friends—with our culture-defining titles like Stranger Things, KPop Demon Hunters and Game of Squid, we can do it even better.”
Netflix's cash-and-stock deal is valued at approximately $27.75 per Warner Bros. share. Discovery. Netflix also agreed to assume Warner Bros. debt. for more than $10 billion, bringing the transaction value to $82.7 billion.
The breakthrough came earlier this week after three contenders—Netflix, Paramount and Comcast—submitted mandatory offers in the second round. Netflix's victory was assured by Thursday evening, shortly after another deadline for last-minute deal sweeteners. The boards of directors of Netflix and Warner unanimously approved the deal.
Warner's cable channels, including CNN, TNT and HGTV, are not included in the deal. They will form a new public company, Discovery Global, in mid-2026.
Antitrust experts expect opposition to Netflix's proposed takeover. Netflix has more than 300 million streaming subscribers worldwide, and with HBO Max, the company's base will increase to more than 420 million subscribers – a staggering amount that far exceeds any other premium video-on-demand streaming service.
In addition, Netflix has long prioritized releasing films on its streaming platform, bypassing theater chains.
The deal poses “an unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business,” Cinema United, a trade group representing owners of more than 50,000 movie screens, said in a statement announcing its opposition.
“The negative impact of this acquisition will have an impact on movie theaters, from major theaters to independent single-screen theaters, in smaller cities across the U.S. and around the world,” Cinema United President Michael O'Leary said in a statement. “Netflix's stated business model does not support theatrical exhibitions.”
In its statement, Netflix said it will continue Warner Bros. operations, including theatrical releases of Warner Bros. films.
The Directors Guild of America said the proposed merger “raises serious concerns.”
“A vibrant, competitive industry that fosters creativity and encourages true competition for talent is essential to protecting the careers and creative rights of directors and their teams,” a DGA spokesperson said. “We will meet with Netflix to outline our concerns and better understand their vision for the future of the company.”
Losing the auction was a devastating blow to Paramount's David Ellison, a 42-year-old tech scion who had envisioned building a juggernaut with two legendary movie studios, HBO and two dozen cable channels.
A month after buying Paramount, he set his sights on Warner Bros., launching the auction with a series of unsolicited bids in September and early October.
But the board of directors of Warner Bros. Discovery rejected Paramount's offers as too low. The board opened the auction to other bidders in late October.
Comcast also bid on Warner Studios, HBO and its streaming service. Comcast wanted to spin off its NBCUniversal media assets and combine them with Warner Bros. to form a new giant studio.
