The US media landscape could be significantly remade following a major bid by Netflix, the world’s largest streaming service, to acquire the storied TV and film group Warner Bros Discovery. According to a report on Monday, the streaming giant has made a mostly cash offer as the debt-laden Hollywood studio presses forward with a sale.
The parent company of HBO, CNN, and the renowned Warner Bros film studio officially put itself up for sale in October after receiving multiple unsolicited offers. This move set aside an earlier plan to split the company into separate streaming/studio and traditional cable network entities.
Netflix, boasting over 280 million global subscribers, joined other major players, including Paramount, Skydance, and Comcast, the owner of NBCUniversal, in a second round of the auction that was negotiated over the US Thanksgiving holiday. Paramount, recently acquired by the billionaire tech family of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, had made three consecutive offers before Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav initiated the official sale process.
To finance this ambitious potential acquisition, Netflix is reportedly working on securing a bridge loan totaling tens of billions of dollars, according to Bloomberg sources. The deal would drastically bulk up Netflix’s already considerable content production capabilities, securing premium assets such as HBO and the Warner Bros studios. However, the takeover is expected to face close scrutiny from antitrust authorities in the United States and other major markets.
Top Hollywood figures have already voiced concern, with “Titanic” director James Cameron recently calling a potential takeover by Netflix “a disaster,” citing fears that the streaming company would limit theatrical releases.
