{"id":474038,"date":"2026-02-17T15:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/474038\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T15:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:25:08","slug":"netflix-berates-paramount-for-misleading-warner-bros-shareholders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/474038\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix Berates Paramount For Misleading Warner Bros. Shareholders"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tNetflix<\/a> slammed Paramount<\/a>\u2019s \u201cantics\u201d and blasted the David Ellison<\/a> company for misleading Warner Bros. Discovery<\/a> shareholders on the regulatory landscape in an aggressive defense of its own WBD deal.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat agreement, signed last December and unanimously approved by the WBD board, will be put to a vote by Warner shareholders on March 20, Warner announced today even as it simultaneously unveiled plans to engage with Paramount for a seven-day window through Feb 23.<\/p>\n

\n\tParamount has been attempting for months to derail the Netflix transaction with a series of hostile offers.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThroughout the robust and highly competitive strategic review process, Netflix has consistently taken a constructive, responsive approach with WBD, in stark contrast to Paramount Skydance. While we are confident that our transaction provides superior value and certainty, we recognize the ongoing distraction for WBD stockholders and the broader entertainment industry caused by PSKY\u2019s antics. Accordingly, we granted WBD a narrow seven-day waiver of certain obligations under our merger agreement to allow them to engage with PSKY to fully and finally resolve this matter,\u201d Netflix said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis does not change the fact that we have the only signed, board-recommended agreement with WBD, and ours is the only certain path to delivering value to WBD\u2019s stockholders,\u201d it insisted, zeroing in on regulatory approvals<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNetflix is confident that our transaction, a largely vertical merger of complementary assets, has a clear path to timely regulatory approval,\u201d it said. Netflix and WBD have each submitted their Hart-Scott-Rodino filings and are \u201cengaged constructively\u201d with competition authorities globally including the DOJ, state Attorneys General, the European Commission, and the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBy contrast, PSKY has repeatedly mischaracterized the regulatory review process by suggesting its proposal will sail through, misleading WBD stockholders about the real risk of their regulatory challenges around the world. WBD stockholders should not be misled into thinking that PSKY has an easier or faster path to regulatory approval \u2013 it does not,\u201d said the streamer led by Ted Sarandos<\/a> and Greg Peters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt ridiculed Paramount for publicizing \u201croutine checkpoints\u201d to exaggerate \u2018progress\u2019. \u201cFor example, PSKY cited securing German FDI clearance on January 27, 2026, as evidence of their \u2018regulatory certainty.\u2019\u00a0 In fact, Netflix received German FDI clearance on the very same day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt anticipated scrutiny on foreign funding behind PSKY\u2019s bid \u2013 namely the Middle East sovereign wealth funds that will be passive investors. It insisted regulators will focus on horizontal overlaps (two of the five major Hollywood studios, two major news networks) and the impact on competition, job losses, reduced output, and downward pressure on wages for film and television workers \u2013- with pain set to result from the high debt of the combined company.<\/p>\n

\n\tParamount has predicted up to $6 billion in cost savings. Much of that is likely to be realized through layoffs. Netflix, instead, calculates that the leverage of a combined Para-WBD leverage could require as much as $16 billion in cuts.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt claimed PSKY, which is set to release its latest quarterly earnings next week, is already undershooting its financial projections. Paramount and Skydance merged last August. \u201cThis extraordinary execution risk and track record of operational underperformance could impact PSKY\u2019s ability to fund and close a transaction,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNetflix\u2019s strong cash flow generation supports our all-cash transaction structure while preserving a healthy balance sheet and flexibility to capitalize on future strategic priorities. A combined Netflix and Warner Bros. will strengthen the entertainment industry, preserve choice and value for consumers, and give creators more opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCritics of the Netflix deal, are there are many including guilds, exhibitors and select lawmakers, doubt the streamer\u2019s newfound commitment to theatrical windows and are also concerned about the cost cuts and the threat of a monopoly in streaming with HBO Max in the Netflix fold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Netflix slammed Paramount\u2019s \u201cantics\u201d and blasted the David Ellison company for misleading Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28,18205,133156,14007,217,4208,77953,10343],"class_list":["post-474038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-david-ellison","tag-greg-peters","tag-mergers-and-acquisitions","tag-netflix","tag-paramount","tag-ted-sarandos","tag-warner-bros-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}