The High Stakes Behind the Netflix/Paramount Bidding War For Warner Bros.

Opinions are mixed but concerns abound over a Warner Bros. merger with either Netflix or Paramount.

After Netflix announced last week that it’s reached a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to acquire the Warner Bros. studios and streaming assets, Paramount, days later, announced a hostile bid (direct to shareholders) for Warner Bros. Discovery in its entirety — studios and streaming assets plus cable channels, which include CNN.

“To buy something like Warner Bros. Discovery, holy cow, that’s a big library, and it raises all kinds of interesting future strategy questions,” says Kathryn Harrigan, Henry R. Kravis Professor of Business Leadership at Columbia Business School.

Further, she says, Paramount’s decision to go directly to shareholders is intriguing. “It remains to be seen whether