Netflix executives seek to calm fears over multibillion-dollar Warner Bros. deal

The co-chief executives of Netflix issued a missive Monday expressing assurance successful their quality to adjacent a projected $72-million acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery portion trying to allay fears the woody volition wounded the amusement industry.

The associated enactment filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos maintained that combining the streaming behemoth with the historical movie and TV studios and its HBO Max work “will connection consumers much prime and value, let the originative assemblage to scope adjacent much audiences with our combined distribution, and substance our semipermanent growth.”

The connection follows the Dec. 8 hostile bid from Paramount, which has upped the ante to $78 cardinal oregon $30 share. Paramount is besides seeking to get WBD’s cablegram assets including CNN and Discovery Networks. Warner Bros. Discovery has a monolithic room of fashionable and classical films on with durable TV bid specified arsenic “Friends,” that would fortify Paramount’s ain streaming level Paramount+.

Paramount is going straight to shareholders successful bid to besides enactment unit connected WBD. Paramount executives person accused the institution of not engaging meaningfully with aggregate proposals it enactment distant implicit the people of 12 weeks.

The Hollywood assemblage — particularly among Guild members — are not enthralled with the Netflix deal, fearing it volition trim the magnitude of movies and TV shows created, and destruct jobs.

Netflix shares, which closed Monday astatine $93.77, person dropped 15% successful the past period amid Wall Street’s worries astir the viability of the company’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

“We’ve seen this movie before, and we cognize however it ends,” Michele Mulroney, president of the Writers Guild of America West said past week. “There are tons of promises made that 1 positive 1 is going to adjacent three. But it’s precise hard to envision however 2 behemoths, for example, Warner Bros. and Netflix ... tin support up the level of output they presently have.”

Peters and Sarandos antagonistic that their connection “is pro-consumer, pro-innovation, pro-worker, pro-creator, and pro-growth.” The missive pointed to Nielsen information that shows Netflix would lone relationship for 9% of each TV usage if combined with WBD. YouTube presently has 13% portion the imaginable operation of Paramount and WBD would beryllium 14%.

The executives said Netflix expected the hostile bid from Paramount and contend the institution has “a coagulated woody successful place” with the streamer. They besides expressed assurance successful getting authorities support for a deal, addressing the prevailing contented that the affable narration betwixt President Trump and Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison and his capitalist begetter Larry volition assistance grease the wheels for approval.

“We’re assured we’ll get it implicit the decorativeness line—and we’re genuinely excited astir what’s ahead,” the executives wrote. “We judge successful this deal—in the worth it creates— and we’re assured we’ll get the approvals we request to marque it happen.

The woody volition request the support of the Department of Justice. Trump has said that Netflix’s ample stock of the streaming marketplace “could beryllium a problem” for the company’s pursuit.