DOJ Approves Paramount's $111B Warner Bros. Discovery Deal

Federal antitrust officials have cleared the path for Paramount to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in an approximately $111 billion transaction.

The deal closed a bidding war with Netflix. Paramount locked in the purchase agreement during February 2026 after outlasting competing proposals from Netflix that the target company had turned down several times. The transaction will combine the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming platforms.

Financial terms include a $31 per share cash price. The agreement reportedly sets a cash purchase price of $31.00 per WBD share along with a daily ticking fee of $0.25 per quarter that begins after September 30, 2026. A $7 billion safety-net regulatory termination fee would apply if the deal fails to close because of regulatory problems.

Netflix declined to match the final offer. The streaming service, which at one point appeared likely to land Warner Bros. Discovery, described Paramount's bid as superior. Its representatives stated, “The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval. However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.”

The merger carries implications for gaming projects. Each company maintains multiple gaming initiatives. Paramount has opened its own studio and is developing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles title drawn from The Last Ronin, whereas Warner Bros. controls the Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and full DC Comics intellectual properties.

Executives have discussed key IP priorities. One Paramount gaming executive outlined the properties viewed internally as the studio's core focus. The transaction, confirmed by Deadline, opens the door to cross-franchise video game collaborations that could place characters such as Batman or Superman alongside figures from other libraries.