LOS ANGELES — Netflix is in the process of buying one of the most storied and gleaming Old Hollywood headquarters, the site where “Gone With the Wind” was filmed. Discovery’s Warner Bros. film and television studios, as well as HBO’s streaming business, are in a $72 billion cash-and-stock deal, outbidding competition from Paramount, Skydance and Comcast in a Hollywood power struggle that could determine the future of streaming. The transaction would give Netflix ownership of franchises from “Game of Thrones” and the DC Universe to “Harry Potter,” while Warner’s cable networks, including CNN and Discovery, would be carved into a separate company called Discovery Global. The agreement was announced by the two companies on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025.
The Netflix Warner Bros Discovery deal values the studio-streaming arm at $72 billion in equity, with Netflix agreeing to a $5.8 billion breakup fee if it walks away. The companies say the merger should yield $2 billion to $3 billion in annual cost savings by year three and is expected to close in 12 to 18 months, after the previously announced Discovery Global spinoff.
Friday’s announcement capped a sale process that began when Warner Bros. Discovery’s board started a strategic review in October, exploring a full sale, breakup, or spin-off of its cable networks. That review followed months of speculation about potential bidders, including Paramount Skydance and Comcast, circling the heavily indebted media group.
Days after that review, Netflix quietly hired the investment bank Moelis & Co. to explore an offer for Warner’s studios and streaming operations, signalling a willingness to depart from its long-held distaste for megamergers. That move set off a three-way bidding contest in which Paramount prodded Comcast to make an all-cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, while it was pursuing a combination with NBCUniversal, and before Netflix’s mostly cash bid for Warner Bros. alone emerged as the winner.
Inside the Netflix, Warner Bros Discovery financing
Netflix is arranging a $59 billion bridge loan to finance the Netflix Warner Bros discovery mega-deal, led by Wells Fargo, along with additional loans and a potential bond sale. The short-term borrowing will temporarily boost Netflix’s leverage, but analysts say it should be refinanced over time with longer-term debt.
For audiences, the Netflix Warner Bros Discovery deal would bring some of entertainment’s biggest franchises—like “Harry Potter,” “Game of Thrones,” DC superheroes, and Netflix originals such as “Stranger Things”—under one roof. Analysts say this could reshape the movie business. “Our goal has been like ‘Spider-Man’s’—to bring great stories from everywhere to a global audience,” said Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos. “Superheroes can belong everywhere, and this lets us offer fans an epic experience whenever they’re ready.” The statement emphasised that combining Warner Bros. content with Netflix’s platform could better serve viewers.
But the Netflix Warner Bros Discovery merger will also face intense scrutiny in Washington and Brussels. Lawmakers, consumer advocates and Hollywood unions are already raising concerns that merging the world’s biggest streamer with HBO and a top Hollywood studio could hurt competition, increase prices, and cut jobs, as occurred when AT&T bought Time Warner in 2018 after a fierce battle.
For months, the companies say little will change in the short term, as both continue operating under separate apps and Warner’s spinoff of Discovery Global proceeds, while regulators review the details. The real test of the Netflix Warner Bros Discovery gamble will come over the next year, as antitrust enforcers decide if promises of more content and possible savings for consumers offset concerns about so much Hollywood power under one streaming banner.
