Netflix Enhances Warner Bros. Acquisition Offer to Counter Paramount

Netflix announced on Tuesday that it had modified its December offer to acquire major parts of Warner Bros. Discovery, a rejoinder to Paramount and its chief executive, David Ellison, who is also in hot pursuit of Warner Bros. In December, Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to sell its streaming and studios business to Netflix in an $83 billion cash-and-stock deal. On Tuesday, Netflix said it would pay that sum exclusively in cash, simplifying the deal for investors who will no longer have to account for Netflix’s fluctuating stock price. “Today’s revised merger agreement brings us even closer to combining two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world,” David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement. Netflix’s modified offer would provide “greater financial certainty” for shareholders, added Ted Sarandos, the co-chief executive of Netflix.