Netflix has abandoned its plans to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business, the Associated Press reported.
The move puts Paramount in the pole position to take over Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.’ board announced Paramount’s latest offer to buy the entire company for $31 per share was superior to its previous deal with Netflix.
Warner gave Netflix four business days to come up with a counteroffer. It took less than two hours for Netflix to decline a new proposal.
“We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.′ iconic brands,” Netflix’s co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a joint statement. “But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”
Netflix’s offer equaled $27.75 per share. The overall evaluation of Paramount’s offer is about $111 billion, whereas Netflix’s would have been about $83 billion.
