Netflix has strengthened its $82.7bn (£61.5bn) takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery by switching to an all-cash offer, aiming to speed up approval and block a rival move from Paramount Skydance.
The revised deal keeps the valuation at $27.75 per share but removes shares from the structure, giving investors more certainty and potentially allowing a shareholder vote as early as April. Netflix said WBD shareholders would also receive shares in a spun-off global networks business, including CNN and Discovery Channel.
Paramount is pursuing a larger $108.4bn hostile bid and has tried to undermine the Netflix agreement through legal action and boardroom challenges, but a Delaware judge rejected its latest lawsuit.
If completed, the Netflix deal would hand it control of Warner Bros studios and HBO, while WBD’s board continues to unanimously recommend Netflix’s offer over Paramount’s.
