Netflix to Buy Warner Bros. in Historic $72 Billion Deal

Watch Bloomberg Businessweek Daily every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.

Netflix Inc. agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., marking a seismic shift in the entertainment business as a Silicon Valley-bred streaming giant tries to swallow one of Hollywood’s oldest and most revered studios.

Under terms of the deal announced Friday, Warner Bros. shareholders will receive $27.75 a share in cash and stock in Netflix, valuing the business at $82.7 billion including debt. The total equity value of the deal is $72 billion. Warner Bros. will spin off cable networks such as CNN and TNT into a separate company before concluding the sale of its studio and HBO to Netflix. 

Media mergers of this scale have a rocky history and this one is expected to bring intense regulatory scrutiny in the US and Europe. Paramount Skydance Corp., which accused Warner Bros. of running an unfair sales process, could also take steps to disrupt the transaction, like by taking an offer directly to shareholders. The company declined to comment.

The Netflix deal combines two of the world’s biggest streaming providers with some 450 million subscribers. Warner Bros.’ deep library of programming gives Netflix content to sustain its lead over challengers like Walt Disney Co. and Paramount.

Today's show features:

• Bloomberg News Media and Entertainment Editor Felix Gillette on Netflix agreeing to buy Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. in a deal valuing the business at $82.7 billion including debt
• Karin Kimbrough, Chief Economist at LinkedIn, on the health of the US labor market and economy
• Rebecca Homkes, Faculty at the London Business School and at Duke Corporate Executive Education, on how executives should be evaluating the health of consumers, market concentration risk and AI bubble concerns
• Bloomberg Tech Co-Host Ed Ludlow on Elon Musk’s SpaceX reportedly telling investors and financial institution representatives that it is aiming for an initial public offering in 2026
• Bloomberg News Senior Editor, Equities Americas Eric Weiner recaps the week in markets and looks ahead to the Federal Reserve’s upcoming rate decision

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.