Antitrust probe into Netflix’s purchase of WBD begins
Antitrust probe into Netflix’s purchase of WBD begins
The Department of Justice has begun its investigation to determine whether Netflix’s purchase of WBD would violate antitrust laws.
There’s no denying that if Netflix buys HBO Max, it will have an imposing presence in the streaming world. Warner Bros. Discovery has already agreed to a deal worth nearly $83 billion in enterprise value to sell its TV and movie studios and streaming businesses to Netflix, but the agreement has to pass muster with regulators, which seems to be an uphill battle at this point. The Department of Justice has officially opened an antitrust probe into the deal, which is currently slated to end a few days after WBD’s special investor meeting to vote on the Netflix offer.
Key Details:
- Let’s take a look: The Department of Justice is investigating Netflix’s purchase of WBD.
- See you in a month: Recipients of the civil investigative demand from the DOJ have until March 23 to respond.
- One more day: Paramount has until Feb. 24 to present a “best and final” offer to purchase WBD.
The Department of Justice has issued a civil investigative demand (CID) to determine whether Netflix’s purchase of WBD will “substantially lessen competition, or tend to create a monopoly in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, or Section 2 of the Sherman Act.”
Those who have received the CID have until March 23 to provide any documents or sworn responses to the DOJ. That comes three days after WBD’s special meeting of shareholders, which will vote on whether or not to officially accept the Netflix deal.
“This is going nuclear stuff, though not surprising, ” one producer who received a CID told Deadline. “Netflix’s going to get a lot bigger with Warner. Trump himself said that out loud. So c’mon, what did anyone expect?”
The Trump administration has been readying an antitrust case against a WBD merger with Netflix for months now, but this announcement of a DOJ probe makes it official. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has maintained that his company would not have any semblance of a monopoly in streaming if it were to purchase WBD, citing, in part, the dominance that YouTube has in the streaming space.
Another suitor is, of course, waiting in the wings if Netflix’s purchase of WBD is put on ice by regulators. Paramount Skydance still desperately wants to purchase WBD; in fact, the two sides reopened negotiations last week to determine if Paramount could put another, better offer on the table. The deadline for Paramount to do so is Tuesday, Feb. 24.
Netflix
Netflix is a leading subscription-based video streaming service that offers on-demand access to an extensive library of over 3,000 movies, 2,000+ TV shows, and a growing collection of acclaimed Netflix originals. Renowned for producing groundbreaking content, Netflix has become a cultural powerhouse with hit originals like “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday,” “Squid Game,” “The Crown,” “Tiger King,” “Bridgerton,” “The Witcher,” and “Black Mirror.”