Netflix breaks silence after losing Warner Bros. Discovery to Paramount Skydance

Netflix honchos Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters brushed off the company’s failed bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, calling it “nice to have” at the right price — not a “must-have” at any cost.

“The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval. However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid,” Peters and Sarandos said in a joint statement.

Netflix announced it had declined to raise its offer to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery Thursday, stating Paramount Skydance had submitted a “superior proposal.”

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“Warner Bros. is a world-class organization, and we want to thank David Zaslav, Gunnar Wiedenfels, Bruce Campbell, Brad Singer and the WBD Board for running a fair and rigorous process,” Sarandos and Peters said.

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

Netflix is set to invest over $20 billion into series and films this year, according to the co-CEOs, who ended their message with a positive message about the company’s future.

“We will continue to do what we’ve done for more than 20 years as a public company: delight our members, profitably grow our business, and drive long-term shareholder value,” they said.