Opponents of the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal take fight to Europe
Europe is the latest frontier of the ongoing tug-of-war for the “Friends” back catalog.
Struggling to gain a foothold in the US, the groups opposing Netflix’s $83 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery are mounting a European assault.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison this week met with top European film industry execs and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, while other Paramount execs traveled to the UK and Germany to lobby regulators against Netflix’s offer.
Trade groups representing AMC and other movie theaters with European exposure also lobbied EU regulators against Netflix’s deal.
The efforts come as Netflix racks up small US wins in its war of attrition to complete the deal. A Delaware judge on Thursday dismissed Paramount’s motion to speed up its lawsuit against WBD. Paramount’s current $30-per-share offer expires on January 21, though Warner Bros. argued that Paramount “set its own expiration date.”
On Friday, Netflix appeared to dispel theater owners’ fears about limited release windows, with co-CEO Ted Sarandos telling The New York Times that the company would run Warner Bros.’ film business largely like it’s run today.
“When this deal closes, we will own a theatrical distribution engine that is phenomenal and produces billions of dollars of theatrical revenue that we don’t want to put at risk. We will run that business largely like it is today, with 45-day windows,” Sarandos said. Shares of AMC and Imax climbed on Friday following the interview.
Those moves follow reports earlier this week that Netflix is planning to strengthen its current WBD offer by making it all-cash.
Event contracts are beginning to swing heavily in Netflix’s favor, with Paramount’s odds to end up in control of WBD falling to 19% as of 11:30 a.m. ET on Friday, down from 31% on Thursday.
(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)
