83 billion dollars Netflix buys Warner Bros. - but only wants the series division

Netflix and Warner Bros. have reached an agreement: the streaming giant is taking over the Hollywood veteran's series division for 72 billion dollars, including 10 billion in debt. The TV channels owned by Warner will be spun off into a new company.

Netflix is taking over Warner Bros Discovery - including the film and TV studios as well as the streaming division. The Reuters agency quotes a purchase price of 72 billion US dollars. Netflix is thus taking over Warner's debts amounting to a good 10 billion, resulting in total costs of 82.3 billion dollars. The streaming pioneer is thus acquiring one of Hollywood's most traditional heavyweights and writing a new chapter in the history of the entertainment industry.

After weeks of bidding wars, Netflix prevailed and, with an offer of around 28 dollars per share, outbid the competition from Paramount Skydance, which had only offered just under 24 dollars. Warner Bros Discovery shares closed at 24.50 dollars on Thursday - the group was most recently valued at around 61 billion dollars.

Game of Thrones, Harry Potter & Co. at home with Netflix in future

With the takeover, Netflix is securing the heart of Hollywood magic: franchises such as Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and the DC universe will in future be in the hands of the company that once began as a mail-order DVD service and now dominates the global streaming landscape.

"Together, we can give audiences even more of what they love and help shape the next century of storytelling," said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos euphorically in a statement.

Race for content - and regulatory hurdles

Experts see the deal primarily as a strategic move: Netflix wants to make itself less dependent on external studios and secure the rights to blockbusters in the long term - also with a view to new business areas such as gaming. However, the merger is likely to raise eyebrows among competition authorities in the USA and Europe. After all, the world's largest streaming service is taking over a direct rival with around 130 million subscribers - including HBO Max.

To allay concerns, Netflix emphasized, according to Reuters, that a combination of the two platforms would benefit consumers - through cheaper bundled offers. The company also promised to continue to schedule theatrical releases for Warner films - a signal to the film industry that cinema should not die.

Political disruptive fire from the Paramount camp

However, the competition is not very enthusiastic: Paramount - supported by David Ellison, a close confidant of the Trump administration - originally started the bidding battle. In a recent letter, the company expressed doubts about the fairness of the sales process and accused Netflix of preferential treatment.

The purchase will be financed with a mixture of cash and shares: each Warner shareholder will receive 23.25 dollars in cash and around 4.50 dollars in Netflix shares - which values Warner at 27.75 dollars per share and a total of 72 billion dollars (including debt, this amounts to 82.7 billion dollars).

Netflix expects the merger to generate annual savings of two to three billion dollars in the first three years. The acquisition is expected to be completed after the spin-off of Warner's Discovery Global division - in the third quarter of 2026 at the earliest. This includes the news channel CNN, among others.