The Warner Bros. acquisition: a timeline of events so far

The acquisition of movie giant Warner Bros. has become something of a popcorn-munching spectacle, as Netflix and Paramount vie to absorb the storied company. At the time of writing, it seems like Paramount will be the likely suitor, having significantly upped its bid. But there may still be twists and turns along the way.

Most attention has naturally focused on the impact of a merger on the TV and film portions of Warner – or Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to give the company’s full name – while relatively little heed has been paid to the potential effect on WBD’s game studios, which Netflix called “relatively minor in the grand scheme of things“.

It’s no secret Warner’s studios have been having a tough time of late, with Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad seriously underperforming, WB Games head David Haddad departing in January 2025, and storied studio Monolith Productions being closed a month later, along with Player First Games, and Warner Bros San Diego. The games division has said it will now focus on four key properties: Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat, and DC Comics IP.

Netflix has had similar troubles in its relatively new gaming division, which has seen redundancies and divestment, and recently underwent a change of focus to prioritize cloud gaming. Paramount, meanwhile – or Paramount Skydance (PSKY) to give its full name – ostensibly has a more similar games operation to Warner Bros., with Amy Hennig’s Skydance New Media division focusing on IP-led AAA productions such as Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra and a currently untitled Star Wars game.

It remains to be seen what will happen to Warner’s game studios – which include Rocksteady, Avalanche, Netherrealm, and TT Games – under their new owner. But below is a timeline of events so far.

June 9, 2025

WBD announced plans to split the company into two separate entities: Streaming and Studios and Global Networks.

Streaming and Studios consists of WB Television, WB Motion Picture Group, Warner Bros Games, DC Studios, HBO, and HBO Max, while Global Networks includes basic cable Warner channels such as CNN, TNT Sports in the US, and Discovery, as well as free-to-air channels across Europe and digital products including streaming services.

August 2025

David Ellison successfully bought Paramount for $8 billion, combining it with his company Skydance Media.

Paramount Skydance (PSKY) leadership and the board reportedly “meet to discuss plans to go after WBD,” according to The Los Angeles Times.

September 11, 2025

PSKY reportedly began preparing its bid for WBD. Sources said the bid was for the entire company, including its cable networks and movie studio. Warner executives were reportedly unaware of PSKY’s intent to pursue an acquisition.

September 12, 2025

The PSKY board discussed its potential acquisition of WBD. The board unanimously approved the terms of the proposed offer.

Late September 2025

Ellison reportedly pitched PSKY’s bid to WBD CEO David Zaslav, proposing a $19-per-share cash-and-stock offer, according to The Wall Street Journal.

This was supposedly followed by a formal letter confirming its bid, which would be made up of 60% cash. WBD rejected the offer, saying it was “inadequate.”

Ellison sent a second offer to the WBD, increasing the share price to $22, while raising the cash price to 67%. The new deal offered a $2 billion payment if regulators rejected it. Ellison also allegedly offered Zaslav the role of co-CEO and co-chairman of WBD and PSKY.

October 13, 2025

PSKY issued its third bid, raising the share price to $23.50 and the cash amount to 80%.

October 21, 2025

WBD officially announced it was “exploring a potential sale of all or some of its media holdings.“

“After receiving interest from multiple parties, we have initiated a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to identify the best path forward to unlock the full value of our assets,” said Zaslav.

Mid-November 2025

Bloomberg reports that Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos allegedly met with US President Donald Trump to discuss “the auction of WBD,” according to sources.

Sarandos was said to have “left with the impression that Netflix wouldn’t face immediate opposition from the White House” if it pursued a bid for WBD.

The Netflix boss reportedly decided PSKY “was overestimating its political advantage and would likely underbid,” therefore creating an opening.

December 1, 2025

PSKY submitted another bid, raising its per-share offer to $26.50 in an all-cash transaction.

An SEC filing revealed that PSKY’s offer was backed by a $11.8 billion commitment from the Ellison family, a $24 billion commitment from three Gulf sovereign wealth funds, and a $1 billion commitment from Tencent.

There were also undisclosed commitments from RedBird Capital Partners and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners. The latter is also part of the $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts.

December 4, 2025

Another SEC filing revealed that Tencent backed out as a financing partner. The three Gulf sovereign wealth funds are the Public Investment Fund (also part of the EA acquisition), L’Imad Holding Company PJSC, and Qatar Investment Authority.

December 5, 2025

Netflix announced its acquisition of WBD for approximately $82.7 billion.

Both firms entered into a definitive agreement. Netflix would acquire WBD’s film studio, streaming businesses, and games division. The deal did not include its Global Network.

The streaming giant offered $27.75 per share in cash and $4.50 in shares of Netflix common stock for each share of WBD common stock.

The transaction was expected to close after the previously announced separation of WBD’s Global Network division into a new publicly traded company in Q3 2026 (September 30, 2026).

“This acquisition will improve our offering and accelerate our business for decades to come,” said Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters. “Warner Bros has helped define entertainment for more than a century and continues to do so with phenomenal creative executives and production capabilities. With our global reach and proven business model, we can introduce a broader audience to the worlds they create.”

“By coming together with Netflix, we will ensure people everywhere will continue to enjoy the world’s most resonant stories for generations to come,” added Zaslav.

December 8, 2025

PSKY launched a $108.4 billion hostile takeover bid for WBD, upping its per-share offer to $30.

In an SEC filing, PSKY stated it was “ready to immediately sign the transaction, accompanied by fully executable agreements with fully committed debt financing and fully committed equity financing from the Ellison family.”

The company claimed the WBD board and its advisors chose “to make no effort to speak with PSKY or its representatives about anything” regarding the Netflix deal. It said WBD chose to commit “its shareholders to an obviously financially inferior transaction with extraordinary regulatory risk and a longer timeframe to a possible closing.”

“WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company,” said Ellison. “Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the WBD Board of Directors in private, provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion.

“We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process. We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximise the value of their shares.”

Netflix also conducted a conference call (via Seeking Alpha) about the acquisition. The company’s co-CEO Greg Peters said it did not “attribute any value” to WBD’s gaming division at the beginning of the acquisition process.

“While they definitely have been doing some great work in the game space, we actually didn’t attribute any value to that from the get-go because they’re relatively minor compared to the grand scheme of things,” he said.

“Now we are super excited because some of those properties that they’ve built, Hogwarts Legacy is a great example of that, have been done quite well, and we think that we can incorporate that into what we’re offering.

“They’ve got great studios and great folks working there. So we think that there’s definitely an opportunity there. But just to be clear, we haven’t built that into our deal model.”

Peters also spoke about Netflix’s own games businesses, clarifying that the firm had been investing in its infrastructure and bringing titles to its platform.

“A lot of work has been understanding the strategy and sort of seeing, as we always say, you never know what you’ve got until you get out there with consumers and you figure it out.

“Now we’re at the point where we’re really unlocking the value of the strategic refinements that we’ve made, which have been super exciting. You see a couple of different categories that we’re really going after, and we feel are consistent with what we – the value we can deliver to members, which is differential, which is taking immersive narrative games that are based on IP that we have.”

December 17, 2025

WBD advised shareholders to reject PSKY’s $108.4 billion bid after another review found that PSKY’s offer “remained inferior to the Netflix merger.”

The company said this decision wouldn’t be a surprise to PSKY, following its “clear, and oft-repeated, feedback on their six prior proposals.”

“The PSKY offer provides inadequate value and imposes numerous, significant risks and costs on WBD,” the board said. “PSKY has consistently misled WBD shareholders that its proposed transaction has a ‘full backstop’ from the Ellison family. It does not, and never has.”

WBD board chair Samuel A. Di Piazza, Jr added: “This offer once again fails to address key concerns that we have consistently communicated to PSKY throughout our extensive engagement and review of their six previous proposals.”

January 7, 2026

WBD rejected PSKY’s amended offer, saying it was “not in the best interest of WBD and its shareholders” to accept the bid as it still does not meet the criteria of Netflix’s “superior proposal.”

It highlighted PSKY’s “extraordinary amount of debt financing” and other terms as “heightening the risk of failure to close, particularly when compared to the certainty of the Netflix merger.” It also observed that PSKY estimated a “lengthy period” of 12–18 months to close the deal following signing.

“PSKY is a company with a $14 billion market capitalisation attempting an acquisition requiring $94.65 billion of debt and equity financing, nearly seven times its total market capitalisation,” said WBD. “To effect the transaction, it intends to incur an extraordinary amount of incremental debt – more than $50 billion – through arrangements with multiple financing partners.”

“In contrast, Netflix is a company with a market capitalisation of approximately $400 billion, an investment-grade balance sheet, an A/A3 credit rating and estimated free cash flow of more than $12 billion for 2026.

“The merger agreement with Netflix also provides WBD with more flexibility to operate in a normal course until closing. Given these factors, the board determined that the Netflix merger remains superior to PSKY’s amended offer.”

January 12, 2026

PSKY filed a lawsuit against WBD in Delaware Chancery Court to “ask the court to simply direct WBD” to provide information about the terms of Netflix’s bid “so that WBD shareholders have what they need.”

“WBD has provided increasingly novel reasons for avoiding a transaction with PSKY, but what it has never said, because it cannot, is that the Netflix transaction is financially superior to our actual offer,” PSKY CEO David Ellison wrote in a letter.

“In addition to not disclosing the value of the to-be-issued Global Networks spin off, WBD has not disclosed the mechanism by which any debt transferred from Global Networks to the Streaming & Studios segment reduces the cash and stock consideration payable to [shareholders].”

“The best outcome for [shareholders] and for us would be if WBD’s board would exercise the right it has under the Netflix Agreement to engage with PSKY.”

“If it does so, we will be open and constructive to secure the best path forward. We have demonstrated our willingness to listen carefully to any feedback we receive from WBD’s board and to respond by offering reasonable solutions – and that remains our mindset and approach.”

January 15, 2026

Vice Chancellor Morgan Zum of the Delaware Chancery Court rejected PSKY’s bid to speed up its lawsuit, as it did not suffer “cognisable irreparable harm” from WBD’s alleged inadequate disclosures.”

Zum claimed that PSKY had other means to obtain the financial information from the Netflix transaction. WBD described PSKY’s request as “premature” and said it would disclose its financials when it has shareholder approval for the Netflix takeover.

January 20, 2026

Netflix amended its agreement to an all-cash transaction, with its per share value remaining unchanged at $27.75.

WBD stockholders would also receive the additional value from Discovery Global shares following its separation from WBD. The transaction will be “financed through a combination of cash on hand, available credit facilities, and committed financing.”

WBD chair Samuel A. Di Piazza, Jr said: “Our amended agreement with Netflix is a testament to the Board’s unrelenting focus on representing and advancing our stockholders’ interests.”

February 10, 2026

PSKY announced an amended $30-per-share, all-cash tender offer to acquire WBD, with “enhancements that surpass the standard needed for the WBD Board to engage with PSKY’s superior proposal.”

These enhancements included an incremental cash consideration to WBD shareholders of $0.25 per share, an agreement to pay the $2.8 billion termination fee against Netflix, and eliminating WBD’s potential $1.5 billion financing cost associated with its debt exchange.

PSKY said it would “fully reimburse WBD’s shareholders for the $1.5 billion fee, without reduction to the separate $5.8 billion reverse termination fee, in the unlikely event that (i) the exchange is not successful, and (ii) the PSKY transaction does not close.”

“The additional benefits of our superior $30 per share, all-cash offer clearly underscore our strong and unwavering commitment to delivering the full value WBD shareholders deserve for their investment,” said Ellison.

“We are making meaningful enhancements – backing this offer with billions of dollars, providing shareholders with certainty in value, a clear regulatory path, and protection against market volatility.”

February 17, 2026

WBD reopened talks with PSKY and started a seven-day period (ending February 23) to discuss its bid.

According to Deadline, the Netflix deal “allows WBD to accept a rival offer outright (paying a termination fee), but not to engage in conversations.”

WBD confirmed in a letter to PSKY that Netflix had “agreed to provide a waiver of certain terms” to clarify its proposal. It also revealed that PSKY would agree to pay $31 per share if WBD re-entered talks, and that this wasn’t PSKY’s final proposal.

“We welcome the opportunity to engage with WBD and expeditiously determine whether PSKY can deliver an actionable, binding proposal that provides superior value, transaction certainty and interim protection for WBD’s businesses to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders,” said PSKY.

In response, Netflix said it recognised “the ongoing distraction for WBD stockholders and the broader entertainment industry caused by PSKY’s antics.”

“Accordingly, we granted WBD a narrow seven-day waiver of certain obligations under our merger agreement to allow them to engage with PSKY to fully and finally resolve this matter.”

“Netflix is confident that our transaction, a largely vertical merger of complementary assets, has a clear path to timely regulatory approval.”

“By contrast, PSKY has repeatedly mischaracterised the regulatory review process by suggesting its proposal will sail through, misleading WBD stockholders about the real risk of their regulatory challenges around the world. WBD stockholders should not be misled into thinking that PSKY has an easier or faster path to regulatory approval – it does not.”

February 26, 2026

Netflix withdrew its offer to acquire WBD after PSKY increased its all-cash offer to $31 per share.

PSKY will pay the $2.8 billion termination fee that WBD is required to pay the streaming giant to terminate the existing merger agreement.

WBD’s board of directors determined that Paramount’s latest proposal was “superior” to the bid put forward by Netflix.

“We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the US,” said Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters.

“But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”

They continued: “Netflix’s business is healthy, strong and growing organically, powered by our slate and best-in-class streaming service. This year, we’ll invest approximately $20 billion in quality films and series and will expand our entertainment offering. Consistent with our capital allocation policy, we’ll also resume our share repurchase program.”