Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros. in a $72-billion deal that will transform Hollywood

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Netflix has prevailed in its bid to buy Warner Bros., agreeing to pay $72 billion for the Burbank-based Warner Bros.film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO.The two companies announced the blockbuster deal early Friday morning.

The takeover would give Netflix such beloved characters as Batman, Harry Potter and Fred Flintstone.“Our mission has always been to entertain the world,” Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, said in a statement.“By combining Warner Bros.’ incredible library of shows and movies — from timeless classics like ‘Casablanca’ and ‘Citizen Kane’ to modern favorites like ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Friends’ — with our culture-defining titles like ‘Stranger Things,’ ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ and ‘Squid Game,’ we’ll be able to do that even better.”Netflix’s cash and stock transaction is valued at about $27.75 per Warner Bros.

Discovery share.Netflix also agreed to take on more than $10 billion in Warner Bros.

debt, pushing the deal’s value to $82.7 billion.The breakthrough came earlier this week, after the three contenders — Netflix, Paramount and Comcast — submitted binding second-round offers.

Netflix’s victory was assured by late Thursday, soon after another deadline for last-minute deal sweeteners.Netflix and Warner’s boards separately and unanimously approved the transaction.

Warner’s cable channels, including CNN, TNT and HGTV, are not included in the deal.They will form a new publicly traded company, Discovery Global, in mid-2026.Anti-trust experts anticipate opposition to Netflix’s proposed takeover.

Netflix has more than 300 million streaming subscribers worldwide, and with HBO Max, the company’s base would swell to more than 420 million subscribers — a staggering sum much greater than any of the other premium video-on-demand streaming services.In addition, Netflix has long prioritized releasing movies...