Netflix has revised its $82.7bn (£61.5bn) takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery into an all-cash offer, aiming to speed up shareholder approval and fend off a hostile challenge from Paramount Skydance.
The offer keeps the valuation at $27.75 per share but removes equity complexity, allowing WBD investors to vote as early as April. The WBD board continues to unanimously back Netflix’s proposal.
Under the deal, WBD shareholders would also receive shares in a spun-off global networks business, including CNN and Discovery, which Netflix is not acquiring.
Paramount is pursuing a larger $108.4bn hostile bid and has sought to disrupt the Netflix agreement through legal action and a potential proxy fight, though a Delaware judge has already rejected one lawsuit.
If WBD walks away from the Netflix deal, it would owe a $2.8bn breakup fee, with the company warning that switching offers would trigger billions more in associated costs.
