Paramount Triumphs in WBD Bid as Netflix Walks Away with Breakup Fee
Paramount Skydance’s roughly $31-a-share cash bid wins the Warner Bros. Discovery deal, valuing WBD at about $80 billion plus around $30 billion of debt, prompting Netflix to walk away and collect a $2.8 billion breakup fee; Netflix stock jumped about 10% after hours on the disciplined decision, while Paramount faces substantial debt (~7x EBITDA) and potential cost cuts after closing.