The streaming giant Netflix has solidified itself as the King of Hollywood, announcing Friday its acquisition of Warner Bros. “Together, we’ll define the next century of storytelling, creating an extraordinary entertainment offering for audiences everywhere,” Netflix said in a statement.
“Today, Netflix, Inc. (the Company) and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Netflix will acquire Warner Bros., including its film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO,” Netflix said. “The transaction is expected to close after the previously announced separation of WBD’s Global Networks division, Discovery Global, into a new publicly-traded company, which is now expected to be completed in Q3 2026.”
Earlier in the week, Paramount called the sales process unfair and bias toward Netflix, claiming that the “sales process has been tainted by management conflicts, including certain members of management’s potential personal interests in post-transaction roles and compensation as a result of the economic incentives embedded in recent amendments to employment arrangements.”
Warner Bros. Discovery shot back that its board “attends to its fiduciary obligations with the utmost care, and that they have fully and robustly complied with them and will continue to do so.”
Paramount offered Zaslav an opportunity to head the studio in some capacity if they were to merge, but his role in a Netflix takeover remains unclear.
Next, Netflix must beat the potential antitrust charges that could impede the merger. The streaming giant will have acquired an immense IP library that would officially end the streaming wars once and for all. As Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Erlich recently said, Netflix was “willing to pay for the elimination of a competitor, the acquisition of franchise control, and the synergy potential of integrating one of the most valuable content and IP libraries in the world into their platforms.”
“While Netflix is the clear streaming leader in subscribers, it still lags other media companies on deep IP libraries that could offer potential use cases for theme parks, experiences, Broadway shows, gaming and merchandising. While Netflix has long maintained that M&A was a distraction and that the company could build its own franchises more efficiently than buying them, the landscape has shifted,” Erlich said.
“Acquiring DC Comics, Harry Potter, Hanna-Barbera and other WBD library properties would provide Netflix with a deep set of well-known IP. Further, the acquisition would provide Netflix with physical production capacity and prestige that could help to court talent at another level,” Erlich added.
The deal will surely face intense legal opposition both within and outside the industry. On Thursday, anonymous A-listers in the industry wrote a letter to Congress, arguing that Netflix would “hold a noose around the theatrical marketplace.”
“The letter was sent via email to members of Congress from both parties on Thursday, from an anonymous collective identifying themselves only as ‘concerned feature film producers,’” noted Variety. “The group explained it was leaving the letter unsigned ‘not out of cowardice’ but fear of retaliation, given Netflix’s considerable power as a buyer and distributor. Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment.”
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