Netflix outbid Paramount and Comcast to amass Warner Bros Discovery’s streaming and studio belongings in a $72 billion deal.

Netflix locked down a historic $72 billion acquisition Friday, grabbing management of Warner Bros Discovery’s movie studios, TV manufacturing models and streaming platforms, outbidding Paramount, Skydance and Comcast in a high-stakes race that redrew the map of Hollywood’s media empires.

The deal hands Netflix the keys to a century’s worth of iconic intellectual property, together with the Batman, Superman, Harry Potter and Game of Thrones franchises.

It additionally offers the streaming juggernaut full possession of HBO Max and Warner Bros.’s manufacturing infrastructure, additional cementing its grip on the worldwide content material market.

Netflix provided $27.75 per share in a mixture of money and inventory for Warner Bros Discovery’s streaming and studio belongings, whereas the corporate’s cable networks, together with CNN and TNT, shall be spun off right into a separate enterprise.

The transfer comes as Warner Bros Discovery wrestled with $40.4 billion in debt and a $148 million loss in Q3. CEO David Zaslav introduced in June 2025 that the corporate would cut up its operations to draw potential patrons. The formal sale course of started in October after Warner Bros obtained a number of unsolicited affords.

Paramount Skydance countered with a $ 27-per-share bid to amass the complete firm, together with the cable networks. Comcast additionally threw its hat within the ring by way of NBCUniversal. But Netflix’s focused proposal, which excluded the much less worthwhile cable belongings, received over shareholders.

The acquisition offers Netflix a large leg up within the streaming wars, permitting it to lean on confirmed franchises slightly than construct new ones from scratch. The firm closed 2024 with 302 million subscribers worldwide, including 19 million new customers within the final quarter alone.

Netflix expects to finalize the deal inside 12 to 18 months, pending regulatory clearance and the completion of Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable community spinoff, slated for Q3 2026.

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