Netflix has revised its $82.7bn (£61.5bn) offer for Warner Bros Discovery by making it an all-cash deal, aiming to speed up approval and block a hostile bid from Paramount Skydance.
The offer keeps the valuation at $27.75 per share but removes equity complexity, allowing WBD shareholders to vote as early as April. Netflix said the structure gives greater certainty and remains unanimously backed by WBD’s board.
Under the deal, WBD investors would also receive shares in a spun-off global networks business, including CNN and Discovery Channel, which Netflix is not acquiring.
Paramount continues to pursue a larger $108.4bn takeover and has sought to derail the Netflix agreement through legal action and a potential proxy fight, though a Delaware judge recently rejected its lawsuit.
If WBD walked away from the Netflix deal, it would owe a $2.8bn breakup fee, with total exit costs estimated at about $4.7bn.
