On Thursday, WBD’s board deemed Paramount’s revamped offer “superior,” giving Netflix four business days to match it. But that same day, Netflix, which had recently emphasized its willingness to walk away from mergers it deems overly expensive, said it would no longer pursue the acquisition.
A statement from Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters issued last night said:
The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval. However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.
The CEOs added that the WBD merger “was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”
Netflix’s stock has continuously declined since it announced the planned WBD merger. Following yesterday’s announcement, shares rose by more than 10 percent in after-hours trading.
In a statement quoted by The Hollywood Reporter yesterday, WBD President and CEO David Zaslav said, “Once our board votes to adopt the Paramount merger agreement, it will create tremendous value for our shareholders. We are excited about the potential of a combined Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery and can’t wait to get started working together telling the stories that move the world.”