With Warner Bros. Discovery closing in on their new mega deal, Netflix now finds itself $2.8 billion richer.
The streaming giant on Friday confirmed that Paramount paid out the $2.8 billion fee that WBD was obligated to pay in connection with terminating their signed deal. With the fee paid out, Netflix’s deal for Warner Bros. is officially dead.
Netflix disclosed the cancelation of the deal and the fee payment in an SEC filing Friday.
The disclosure comes after Paramount and WBD were engaged in extensive talks Friday to try and complete their transaction. On Thursday, WBD announced that it had determined that Paramount’s offer was superior to Netflix’s deal, giving Netflix four days to respond. Netflix took less than an hour to tell WBD that it was not going to raise its bid, and that it would exit the process, effectively handing the keys to David Ellison and Paramount.
Netflix, of course, now finds itself with nearly $3 billion more on its balance sheet to play with at the same time that two of its competitors will be in integration mode, potentially giving it an opportunity to steal some big projects and to continue pursuing its aggressive agenda in streaming. It could also choose to engage in other M&A, though the company has historically not done so.
“This year, we’ll invest approximately $20 billion in quality films and series and will expand our entertaining offering,” co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said Thursday.
