The Writer’s Guild (WGA) has come out against a potential merger of Warner Bros. and Paramount after Netflix dropped from the months-long bidding war, The Wrap has learned.
“The combination is different but the outcome is the same: the proposed Paramount-Warner merger would consolidate control of two major film and television studios and streaming services, and two of the largest employers of writers,” the guild said in a statement Friday. “The loss of competition would be a disaster for writers, consumers and the entire entertainment industry. This merger must be blocked.”
Netflix declined to raise its $83 billion offer for Warner Bros. and HBO Max Thursday, after WBD declared that Paramount’s latest bid of $31 per share (a whopping $111 billion for the entirety of WBD, including its linear channels) was the “superior proposal.”
Since losing the initial bidding war and failing with a hostile takeover attempt, Paramount Skydance has turned to multiple new funding sources to make a new $111 billion offer that Warner Bros. Discovery deemed “superior” this past week and which Netflix declined to match. Included in that offer is a $45.7 billion equity commitment guaranteed by Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison’s father, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, and a guaranteed payment of $7 billion to WBD should regulators block the merger.
Prior to the pivot by WBD, Netflix had come under increased bipartisan scrutiny over the attempted acquisition, including from state attorneys general and from members of the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Committee. The chair of that committee, Republican Sen. Mike Lee, had scheduled a hearing for next week to further probe Netflix’s bid, but cancelled it after the streamer dropped out of the race.
“Netflix’s proposed acquisition of Warner Brothers raised serious antitrust concerns. When a massive streaming platform consolidates even more TV shows and movies behind a single paywall, American families lose. Walking away from this deal is a win for consumers,” Lee said in a statement Friday.