said<\/a><\/span> in a statement Thursday. \u201cHowever, we\u2019ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance\u2019s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.\u201d<\/p>\nParamount Skydance didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Sarandos spoke with several Trump administration officials \u2014 but not with President Trump \u2014 on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Netflix executive had a meeting at the White House with Mr. Trump\u2019s chief of staff, Susie Wiles and, earlier in the day, he met at the Justice Department with Attorney General Pam Bondi, the antitrust division\u2019s acting chief Omeed Assefi and other senior Justice Department staff, according to sources familiar with the conversations.<\/p>\n
Justice Department officials told Sarandos they expected to conduct a very comprehensive antitrust investigation into the Netflix-Warner Bros. Discovery deal, sources told CBS News.<\/p>\n
Warner Bros. Discovery owns streaming and film studios, along with cable channels including celebrity.land, Food Network, HBO, HGTV, TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies.<\/p>\n
The merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery will require approval from federal antitrust enforcers.<\/p>\n
Paramount Skydance executives have said that combining the companies would benefit consumers and help boost the entertainment industry, which has struggled to recover from the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Some entertainment industry groups and lawmakers have raised concerns that uniting two major Hollywood studios could undermine competition.<\/p>\n
For its part, Paramount Skydance executives argued that a union between Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns the streaming platform HBO Max, was likely to raise antitrust objections.<\/p>\n
In enhancing its offer this week, Paramount Skydance said it would pay a $7 billion termination fee if its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery collapsed over regulatory concerns.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n