Netflix has officially agreed to purchase Warner Bros., including all of their film and television production companies, along with HBO Max streaming services, for an estimated value of $82.7 billion to $72.0 billion. As a result, Netflix will acquire holdings in several of the most popular entertainment properties in Hollywood. However, this merger will not be finalised until after Warner finishes spinning off their cable business division, which is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2026.
Under this agreement, Netflix is gaining some of the oldest film and television studios in history (warner bros studios) and content from HBO Max and all the other HBO content, including legacy franchises and culturally important shows such as "The Harry Potter series", "DC Universe", "The Sopranos, Game of Thrones", and others examples like "The Wizard of Oz", "The Big Bang Theory," and many other new classics and blockbusters. Netflix's co-CEOs stated that combining these two companies would give consumers around the world access to a wider variety and greater value of content than either company could provide separately.
Netflix's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery was the culmination of a competitive bidding war between several large media companies. Warner Bros. Discovery had previously made the announcement that they would be spinning their operations into two separate businesses: one for traditional cable networks (CNN, TNT, HGTV, and others) and another focused on their streaming and film properties (streaming-only services like HBO Max and films such as Wonder Woman).
While there were multiple offers made for the company by major competitors (Comcast, Paramount Pictures), analysts noted that Netflix's offer was significantly higher than any other bid. Analysts have explained this deal as being threefold. In essence, it allows Netflix to gain a great deal of content, remove a serious threat from the competitive landscape, and prevent a competitor from acquiring similar content in the future.
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