Ted Sarandos tells UBS Conference that Paramount Skydance’s revised offer had been ‘entirely expected’
Netflix chief exec Ted Sarandos is “super confident” that the streamer’s $82.7bn acquisition of Warner Bros will be completed, despite Paramount Skydance’s hostile bid launched on Monday.
Sarandos, who was speaking at the UBS Conference in New York, said Paramount Skydance’s $108.4bn offer for the entirety of Warner Bros Discovery had been “entirely expected”.
He added: “We have a deal done, and we are incredibly happy with the deal. It’s great for shareholders, it’s great for consumers.
“It’s also a great way to create and protect jobs in the entertainment industry. We’re super confident we’re going to get it across the line.”
Sarandos also reiterated his belief - should Netflix acquire Warner Bros - that Warner Bros Television would continue to be a third-party supplier, a strategy that the streamer had outlined in its initial statement following news of the deal.
More broadly, the co-chief exec looked to assuage fears that the deal would result in closures of certain divisions, explaining that Netflix didn’t want to “buy this company to destroy that value.”
He continued: “We want HBO to double down on the things that people have loved for 50 years about HBO - the prestige television, movies and the various pay-TV windows. These are things we’re going to keep going in this business.”
HBO and HBO Max will also continue, if the deal progresses, as will theatrical distribution.
On the latter, Sarandos said he was “deeply committed to releasing those movies exactly the way they’ve released those movies today.”
The comments were aimed at filmmakers and producers who are concerned that Netflix will increasingly look to bring more film releases onto the streamer earlier than planned, reducing the theatrical window.
Netflix plans to make $2.5bn in synergy savings if the deal progresses - versus the planned $6bn identified by Paramount Skydance - but co-chief Greg Peters said the nature of the two businesses meant job losses would be fewer with a Netflix takeover.
“If you think about the core business units that exist inside Warner’s that we would be acquiring, we don’t have those units right now. We don’t have the redundancy issue. We’re not trying to consolidate.”
Sarandos questioned where Paramount Skydance’s $6bn of synergies would be felt. “Where do you think synergies come from? Cutting jobs. So we’re not cutting jobs. We’re making jobs.”
Peters also touched on the antitrust process, adding that he is “very confident that regulators should and will approve it.”
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