# Paramount wins Warner Bros. Discovery for $111 billion

> After a months-long bidding war, David Ellison's Paramount acquired Warner Bros. Discovery in October, beating Netflix's offer and facing regulatory challenges.
- Title: Paramount wins Warner Bros. Discovery for $111 billion
- Summary: After a months-long bidding war, David Ellison's Paramount acquired Warner Bros. Discovery in October, beating Netflix's offer and facing regulatory…
- Keywords: warner bros. discovery, paramount, netflix, david ellison, larry ellison, acquisition, streaming, media merger, regulatory approval, antitrust, technology, startups
- Source: TechCrunch — https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/11/warner-bros-netflix-paramount-acquisition-timeline-wbd
- Author: Lauren Forristal
- Published: 2026-10-11T14:15:00+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: warner bros. discovery, paramount, netflix, david ellison, larry ellison, acquisition, streaming, media merger, regulatory approval, antitrust, technology, startups
## WBD explores a sale
Warner Bros. Discovery revealed in October 2025 it was exploring a potential sale after receiving unsolicited interest from several major industry players.
## Netflix makes opening bid
Netflix offered eighty two point seven billion dollars for Warner's film, television, and streaming assets, becoming the board's initially preferred choice.
## Paramount enters the race
Paramount bid approximately one hundred eight billion dollars for all of Warner's assets, including studios, HBO, streaming, games, and TV networks.
## Netflix sweetens its offer
In January, Netflix amended its agreement to an all-cash offer at twenty seven dollars and seventy five cents per share of Warner Bros. Discovery.
## Board rejects Paramount repeatedly
Warner's board rejected Paramount's offers, citing concerns about its heavy debt load and the eighty seven billion dollars in debt the combined company would carry.
## Paramount raises stakes
In February, Paramount increased its offer to thirty one dollars per share and promised a twenty five cents per share quarterly ticking fee if the deal failed to close by December thirty first, twenty twenty-six.
## Netflix withdraws from bidding
Netflix declined to match Paramount's offer and withdrew from negotiations on February twenty-sixth, saying the deal was no longer financially attractive.

> 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.
## Ellison backs Paramount's bid
Paramount's offer was backed by forty five point seven billion dollars in equity from Larry Ellison and a fifty four billion dollar debt commitment from Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Citi, and Apollo Global Management.
## Lawmakers raise antitrust concerns
U.S. senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Richard Blumenthal warned the Justice Department that the merger could give the new company excessive market power and harm consumers.
## States challenge the deal
A coalition of twelve state attorneys general filed a lawsuit on July thirteenth to block the merger, arguing it would lessen competition and harm movie theaters, cable distributors, and viewers.
## Judge pauses then approves deal
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued a fourteen-day pause after the lawsuit was filed, but a judge approved the deal in late September.
## Paramount officially takes over
As of October sixth, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery officially merged and was renamed Skydance, with annual revenue of almost seventy billion dollars.
## Streaming services to combine
Paramount Plus, HBO Max, and Discovery Plus are all set to be combined eventually under the new Skydance ownership structure.
## Key takeaway

Paramount acquired Warner Bros. Discovery for $111 billion in October after outbidding Netflix, backed by Larry Ellison's $45.7 billion in equity and facing regulatory scrutiny over competition and job losses.