Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros Discovery studio and streaming business in $83bn deal | Netflix

Netflix has agreed to purchase Warner Bros Discovery in an $82.7bn (£62bn) deal that can dramatically reshape the established Hollywood movie and TV business.The streaming firm will take management of WBD’s prize belongings corresponding to Warner Bros, the studio behind franchises together with Harry Potter, Superman and Batman, in addition to HBO, residence to reveals together with Sport of Thrones, The White Lotus and Succession.Netflix may even pay money for an intensive TV archive that features classics corresponding to Associates, which is scheduled to be faraway from Netflix on the finish of the 12 months, and The Huge Bang Principle.“The mix of Netflix and Warner Bros creates a greater Netflix for the long term,” mentioned Ted Sarandos, a co-chief govt of Netflix. “In a world the place folks have so many decisions, extra decisions than ever on spend their time, we will’t stand nonetheless.”The principally money deal, which values WBD at $72bn excluding debt, will shut after the studio spins off its cable channels, which embrace CNN, TBS and TNT, which is predicted to be accomplished within the third quarter of subsequent 12 months.Nevertheless, Netflix will achieve management of TNT Sports activities UK & Eire, which broadcasts Premier League and Champions League soccer and worldwide rugby matches, as it isn’t among the many TV belongings attributable to be spun off from WBD.The streamer has supplied a $5.8bn breakup payment if the deal fails to realize regulatory clearance, whereas WBD can pay Netflix $2.8bn if it delays or calls off the deal.Netflix had been in competitors with rival takeover bids from Paramount Skydance and Comcast, which owns belongings together with Common Studios, the US information community NBC and Sky.Analysts have warned that the deal may spark competitors issues as it could consequence within the mixture of two of the largest streaming providers within the US.Netflix has given assurances that it’ll proceed to permit the Warner Bros movie studio to proceed to have extensive cinematic releases.Netflix mentioned it anticipated to make at the very least $2bn to $3bn in annual financial savings by the third 12 months after the deal closes.“The handshake is the simple bit, getting it previous regulators is prone to be significantly tougher, particularly when you think about the political temperature,” mentioned Danni Hewson, the top of economic evaluation at AJ Bell. “How a lot of these financial savings get handed to streaming platform subscribers, or whether or not Netflix will likely be seen to have an excessive amount of pricing energy, is among the areas that can face an enormous quantity of scrutiny within the coming months.”WBD has already negotiated its theatrical launch slate via till the top of 2029, so any purchaser would at least need to honour these obligations till they arrive up for renewal.“For greater than a century Warner Bros has thrilled audiences,” mentioned David Zaslav, the chief govt of WBD. “By coming along with Netflix, we’ll guarantee folks all over the place will proceed to benefit from the world’s most resonant tales for generations to return.”Warner Bros formally put itself up on the market in October after receiving curiosity from a number of events.Jason Kilar, who ran Warner Bros earlier than its merger with Discovery, mentioned in a publish on X that he “couldn’t consider a greater strategy to scale back competitors in Hollywood than promoting WBD to Netflix”.skip previous e-newsletter promotionSign as much as Enterprise TodayGet set for the working day – we’ll level you to all of the enterprise information and evaluation you want each morningPrivacy Discover: Newsletters might comprise details about charities, on-line advertisements, and content material funded by exterior events. When you would not have an account, we’ll create a visitor account for you on theguardian.com to ship you this text. You’ll be able to full full registration at any time. For extra details about how we use your knowledge see our Privateness Coverage. We use Google reCaptcha to guard our web site and the Google Privateness Coverage and Phrases of Service apply.after e-newsletter promotionIf I used to be tasked with doing so, I couldn’t consider a more practical strategy to scale back competitors in Hollywood than promoting WBD to Netflix— Jason Kilar (@jasonkilar) December 4, 2025Paramount, run by David Ellison and bankrolled by his billionaire father and Oracle founder, Larry, had been seen because the early frontrunner. The group, whose belongings embrace Channel 5 within the UK, had additionally supplied a $5bn termination payment if a deal was agreed however did not get regulatory clearance.Earlier this week, Paramount argued in a letter to Warner Bros that its bid was more than likely to realize regulatory clearance.Paramount accused Warner Bros of working an unfair public sale course of that favoured Netflix. Within the letter, the corporate referred to as the method “tainted” due to conflicts at WBD, together with some executives in search of roles after a deal closes.The letter from litigation counsel to Zaslav accused the corporate of not following “the appearance and actuality of a good transaction course of”, calling it “myopic … with a predetermined end result that favours a single bidder”.Paramount started its pursuit of WBD months after the completion of its $8.4bn takeover by Ellison’s Skydance and its funding companion RedBird Capital and was in search of to purchase your complete firm together with all its cable networks.Based on reviews, Donald Trump’s choice was for Paramount to triumph within the WBD takeover race as a result of he favored the thought of Ellison, who already controls CBS, additionally controlling CNN.Comcast and Paramount declined to remark.