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NEW YORK — <\/span>Netflix is declining to raise its offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s studio and streaming business, in a stunning move that effectively puts Paramount in a position to take over the fellow storied Hollywood giant.<\/p>\n On Thursday, after Warner\u2019s board announced that Skydance-owned Paramount\u2019s offer was superior to the agreement it had previously struck with Netflix, the streaming giant said the new price that would be required to buy Warner would make it a deal that is \u201cno longer financially attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike Netflix\u2019s bid, Paramount wants all of Warner\u2019s operations, including networks like CNN and Discovery. That would put CNN under the same roof as Paramount\u2019s CBS and combine two of Hollywood\u2019s last five remaining studios.<\/p>\n The owner of HBO Max, DC Studios and popular titles like \u201cHarry Potter\u201d had backed Netflix\u2019s proposal for months. But after Skydance-owned Paramount upped its rival bid for the entire company to $31 per share<\/a>, in addition to other revisions, Warner\u2019s board on Thursday said that the offer \u201cconstitutes a \u2018company superior proposal.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n A Paramount buyout Warner’s business would vastly reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape. Paramount\u2019s CBS has seen significant editorial shifts<\/a>, notably with the installation<\/a> of Free Press founder Bari Weiss<\/a> at CBS News, under new Skydance ownership. And if Paramount\u2019s acquisition of Warner is successful, many expect the reach of those changes to only grow.<\/p>\n A Paramount-Warner combo would also combine two of Hollywood\u2019s five legacy studios that remain today, in addition to their theatrical channels. Beyond \u201cHarry Potter,\u201d Warner movies like \u201cSuperman,\u201d \u201cBarbie,\u201d and \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d \u2014 as well as hit TV series like \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d and \u201cSuccession\u201d \u2014 would join Paramount\u2019s content library.<\/p>\n Today, Paramount\u2019s lineup of titles include \u201cTop Gun,\u201d \u201cTitanic\u201d and \u201cThe Godfather.\u201d And beyond CBS, it owns networks like MTV and Nickelodeon, as well as the Paramount+ streaming service. <\/p>\n Executives at Paramount have argued that merging will be good for consumers and the wider industry. But lawmakers and entertainment trade groups have sounded the alarm \u2014 warning that a Warner takeover would only further consolidate power in an industry already run by just a few major players. Critics say that could result in job losses, less diversity in filmmaking and potentially more headaches for consumers who are facing rising costs of streaming subscriptions as is.<\/p>\n Combined, that raises tremendous antitrust concerns<\/a>. The U.S. Department of Justice has already initiated reviews, and other countries are expected to do so, too.<\/p>\n Netflix, Warner and Paramount have spent the last couple of months in a heated, public back and forth over whose deal has a better regulatory path \u2014 and offers more value for Warner shareholders. Thursday’s announcement arrived shortly after Paramount upped the ante on its offer. <\/p>\n Beyond increasing its proposed purchase price for Warner, the company also agreed to a regulatory termination fee of $7 billion. And Paramount pledged to move up a previously-promised \u201cticking fee.\u201d<\/a> The company initially said it would pay 25 cents per share for every quarter the deal drags on past the end of the year. Now it\u2019s agreed to pay that amount if the deal doesn\u2019t go through by the end of September, Warner said.<\/p>\n But Paramount is taking on billions of dollars in debt to finance its offer. And David Ellison’s father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, is heavily backing<\/a> the bid for his son’s company. Foreign sovereign wealth funds have also provided equity for the offer, drawing scrutiny.<\/p>\n The Ellisons also have a close relationship with President Donald Trump \u2014 bringing more politics into question. Trump previously made unprecedented suggestions<\/a> about his involvement in seeing a deal through, before walking back those statements and maintaining<\/a> that regulatory approval will be up to the Justice Department.<\/p>\n The push to acquire Warner also arrives just months after Skydance closed its own buyout of Paramount<\/a> \u2014 in a contentious merger approved just weeks<\/a> after the company agreed to pay the president $16 million<\/a> to settle a lawsuit over editing at CBS\u2019 \u201c60 Minutes\u201d program. Still, Trump has continued to publicly lash out at Paramount and \u201c60 Minutes\u201d since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n